


Sacrifices & Bonds

by NinjaPisces



Series: Paper Moon [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Car Accidents, Coma, Declarations Of Love, Dorks in Love, Head Injury, Hospitals, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Magic, Mountain Ash, Protective Derek, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Slow Burn, Spells & Enchantments, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Pack, Unintended Consequenses, Werewolf Pain-Relief Magic, Witches, Wolfsbane, Wolfsbane Poisoning, Wolfsbane as Weapon, sterek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2018-11-04 14:34:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10992915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjaPisces/pseuds/NinjaPisces
Summary: The accident wasn't anything.  The Jeep wasn't even dented.  But it was enough to change everything.





	1. Spinning Out

**Author's Note:**

> *FYI*  
> I decided not to use Sheriff Stilinskis real name so it is not spoiled for anyone who is not caught up on Teen Wolf and have managed not to have it spoiled for them so far. For this fic his name will be John as that was the name the fandom gave him before his real name was revealed.

The accident itself wasn't bad, it was just lucky - or rather good luck for the crash and bad luck for the driver of the vehicle.

The rain was coming down in sheets, making the winding road all the more dangerous by taking visibility to zero. The young driver was gripping the wheel with both hands the occasional curse falling from his lips. The wipers were on as fast as they could go and the radio was turned completely off.

On a curve the old jeep hydroplaned, spinning out of control for a terrifying second before the driver jerked the wheel and the spinning stopped just off the road, one tire still on the pavement and the other three on the gravel shoulder.

The accident wasn't anything. The Jeep wasn't even dented. But the driver hit his head. Hit it in just the right spot, in just the right way.

The rain pounded the windows as the driver slumped against his door, blood dripping steadily down his face and into his lap. He didn't realize he was bleeding though, he was unconscious, free of any pain or fear.

It was ten minutes before another car came down the road, swerving sharply to avoid the jeep as it seemed to materialize in the rain. The back end of the new car hit a tree. The police arrived twenty minutes later.

*

The Sheriff arrived at the hospital just as the ambulance did. He was called by one of his deputies who went out to the scene of an accident. The deputy recognized the second vehicle on site.

"Stiles!" The Sheriff called as the boy from the jeep was brought through the emergency room. He rushed to the gurney which was being surrounded by EMTs and the ER doctor.

"He was found unresponsive in his vehicle on the side of the road. No idea how long he was there before the other driver found him." A EMT rattled off as they moved.

"Stiles! Can you hear me!" Sheriff Stilinksi shouted trying to shake his son awake.

"Sir, you need to let us do our job." The doctor said pushing him away gently.

"He is my son!" The sheriff shouted at the doctor.

A dark haired nurse hurried up to him. "John! Its going to be okay. You need to stay calm." She said stopping him from following the gurney as they moved on.

"How is it going to be okay, Melissa? Stiles-Stiles is-" He fumbled for words.

Melissa nodded and led him to the waiting room. "They are going to do some testing. Freaking out isn't going to help Stiles right now. Stay here, call the pack. You know they are going to want to know. We will know what is going on soon enough." She said sitting him in a chair.

Melissa sat next to him while he made the calls. When he confirmed that everyone was coming she stood up.

"I'm going to go see what I can do. I'll keep you informed." She said before rushing off the way they had taken Stiles before.

Unsurprisingly Derek was the first one to arrive. Running in the door just five minutes after the Sheriff hung up with him. He looked a little disheveled, like he has gotten dressed in whatever his hands first touched.

"Any news?" Derek asks as his eyes land on the sheriff.

"Nothing yet." The sheriff sighed. He ran a hand across his face and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

Derek groaned and took to pacing from one end of the waiting room to the other.

A couple minutes later Scott arrived with Isaac in tow. "Is my mom back there?" Scott asked sitting next to the sheriff.

"Yeah, she's back there. Still." The sheriff huffed getting impatient. It had been less than 15 minutes, but time seemed to be crawling by. To the sheriff the seconds seemed like minutes and the minutes like hours.

Aiden, Lydia, Ethan, Danny, and Allison were the last to arrive, less than a minute behind Boyd and Erica. The group took over the waiting room. Everyone sitting in the many chairs except Derek, who was still pacing, getting just as impatient as the sheriff.

"Do we know what happened?" Derek snapped suddenly.

"I-I-I am not sure. The call was from another driver who almost hit his Jeep. I didn't go out on the call. But the deputy that did said the Jeep looked like it had spun out on the road. Stiles was unconscious in the drivers seat." The sheriff answered quietly looking like he had aged a decade in the time they had been waiting.

"That's it? He was just unconscious. Was there any sign of an attack?" Scott asked this time.

"Not that anyone noticed. Any signs would have been washed away by the rain anyways." He replied.

Melissa came through the swinging doors then, a grim look on her face as she took everyone in.

The sheriff stood up as everyone gathered closer to hear the news. Everyone was silent. Waiting anxiously, fully aware of the look on Melissa's face, and dreading what she was going to say.

Melissa took a deep breath before starting. "We have done some testing. CT scans MRI's and the like. Stiles has yet to regain consciousness, but we are seeing signs of movement in the eyes and twitching muscles. He reacts to stimuli. We don't know the extent of how bad it is yet. We can't fully know until he wakes up - or doesn't wake up." She began.

"What do you mean? There is a chance he isn't going to wake up? Like a coma?" The sheriff asked trying very hard not to let his panic seep through.

"He has suffered a severe brain injury. We don't know--" Melissa started but she was cut off by Derek.

"Then find out!" He nearly shouted.

Everyone turned to stare at Derek and Melissa gave him her best take-no-shit mother/nurse glare. It took effort, but Derek calmed himself back down. His insides were screaming at him to be with Stiles. Every fiber in him wanting to help him.

"I know you are worried about him. But rushing us through our jobs is not going to help anything." Melissa spoke quietly.

"Sorry. I just - Sorry." Derek mumbled

Melissa nodded to his apology. "Like I said he is not awake yet, but you may see him now. Stick to only four of you in at a time, please." She walked away after giving the sheriff a comforting squeeze to his bicep.


	2. Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles is in the hospital and things are looking grim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You spoke and I listened. Here is chapter 2!

It was over six hours before they saw any sign of consciousness from Stiles. It wasn't a good sign he was out for so long. In total the doctors calculate he was out for seven hours.

After six hours the chances of him coming out of this went down to nearly zero.

Stiles in in a vegetative state. He is not responsive or aware of himself or anything going on around him. Its a bit disconcerting because he will occasionally open his eyes or move, he is just not aware he is doing it. Everything he does is a complete involuntary reflex.

The chances of him ever waking up and being fully functional were less than 1%.

It was just Derek and the Sheriff now. The sheriff sent everyone home some time ago, but Derek refused to leave Stiles' side. The sheriff kept throwing him weird glances, but Derek just kept his focus on Stiles.

Derek had known what Stiles was to him, of course he had known. But Stiles is only seventeen. And while seventeen is mature in the werewolf world, in the human world Stiles is still underage. Plus the fact that he and Derek hadn't had the best of relationships. It was borderline violent until the day of Stiles' birthday. There was a pack meeting that day. Derek didn't mean to plan it on his birthday, he just didn't know when his birthday was. He never bothered to find out. He didn't care.

Then Stiles walked into the loft and the room filled with his scent. Overwhelming Derek's senses and almost making him lose every ounce of self control he had. The moment the scent of caramel and maple leaves hit his nose - Stiles' scent - he lost all train of thought. He couldn't concentrate on the meeting he himself had called. Couldn't recall what the meeting was even supposed to be about. And to this day he had no idea who else was at that meeting besides him and Stiles.

Stiles was his mate. _Stiles_ was his mate. Stiles was _his_ mate. Stiles was his _mate_.

He still couldn't believe it sometimes. But the pull to the teenager was undeniable. He often found himself sticking close to the boy. He would stand or sit closer to him during pack meetings. He would hover when they were fighting some big bad. Derek even sometimes sat just outside Stiles' bedroom window, just to make sure he was safe and to be near him.

He didn't tell anyone this development either, though it hasn't escaped anyone's notice how different Derek acts around Stiles now, even Stiles himself noticed.

Derek sighed, looking at his mate and regretting not telling him. he knew it was right to wait to do anything, but Stiles had the right to know. Reaching out, Derek took Stiles' hand, dropping it with a gasp when black veins crawled up his arm instantaneously.

"What is it? Whats wrong with your arm?" The sheriff asked from the other side of the hospital bed.

Derek blinked rapidly to keep the tears that pushed at his eyes from spilling over. "A-a werewolf can relieve someones pain, only for a short time. The veins are a visual representation of that happening. Stiles is in pain. A lot of pain." Derek whispered. His voice cracked and his heart shattered. His mate was in silent pain. Not even able to scream, trapped by his own body, his own mind, and sometimes your scream is all you've got.

The sheriff swore under his breath looking close to tears himself. Derek took Stiles' hand again, ready for the automatic pain draw that would come. The pain draw is only automatic when the connection is deep enough between two parties. It gave Derek a spark of warmth in his chest, because if the connection is that deep then Stiles must at least like him as a friend and not think of him as the threatening, overbearing, Alpha he had been in the past.

He took as much pain as he dared, bordering on the cusp of dangerous. Dangerous because Alphas have the ability to heal someone - were and human alike- but the act using too much of his Alpha spark and there were consequences to doing it. And no one could guess what those consequences would be.

The effect of the pain draw could be seen immediately. Though Stiles' condition remained the same, his body relaxed and he let out a small sigh. The sheriff also visibly relaxed, taking Stiles' free hand and rubbing it between his own.

"What am I going to do? This cant happen again. I cant watch this happen again." The sheriff whispered so lowly that Derek was sure he wasn't supposed to hear it. He could smell the sadness, the anguish and total despair rolling off the man.

He was sure he smelled almost exactly the same. He couldn't lose Stiles. Derek couldn't take losing another pack member. He couldn't lose anyone else he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so nothing super exciting happened, but the things that happened are important. Next chapter things will pick up.


	3. Rhythm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and the sheriff refuse to leave Stiles. And Derek opens up to the sheriff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to upload. I just got a new job and I am working both first and second shift while I train. Please be patient with me! 
> 
> Thanks and sorry in advance.

Though Stiles didn't know it, he always had visitors. Derek never left his side in the following weeks, and the sheriff only did if it was absolutely necessary. The sheriff spent a lot of time talking to various doctors in the hospital and even some on the phone. He always made sure Derek could not hear what they talked about, though, which made Derek nervous about what was going through the sheriffs head.

Stiles was wasting away. He had lost at least 30 lbs and his skin was always clammy and deathly pale. Derek sometimes felt like he was looking at a corpse and he would focus on the uneven beat of Stiles heart to keep the panic at bay.

Scott came once a day to visit, usually bringing one or two other pack members with him. He brought the sheriff and Derek non-hospital food and sat with them while they ate, catching up on Stiles' condition - which was getting worse - and trying to keep the sheriff in high spirits. He stayed for a couple hours, but with school and pack duties - which he was temporarily taking over because Derek was not going to leave Stiles' side for any reason - he couldn't stay long.

Melissa, Scotts mom, checked in whenever she had a free minute during her shift. She brought extra pillows and blankets for Derek and the sheriff and made sure they were taking care of themselves. She brought in a cot for them to take turns sleeping in, but neither of them really slept all that much. Every time Derek closed his eyes his dreams would conjure up a new reality, one without Stiles' incessant chatter, or insane plans. One where he would never again see Stiles' whiskey colored eyes as bright and alive as they used to be, or his smart ass smirk. Or hear one of his amazingly sarcastic comments.

"After Stiles told me about all this crazy werewolf stuff, I did some research. Stayed up all night in fact. I learned quite a bit." The sheriff began randomly as he smoothed hair from his sons face.

Derek watched him, curious on where he was going with this line of conversation. "Oh yeah?" He prompted after it became apparent that he was not going to continue.

"Most of it I wrote off as just being silly romantic novel crap....but now, watching you these past few weeks, I wonder if I was wrong about a few things." He continued, now looking at Derek.

Derek blinked slowly, waiting for the sheriff to continue on his own this time. The sheriff just studied Derek, like he was looking for some answer to some unasked question.  
It was a couple minutes before the sheriff spoke again. "Mates are a thing aren't they? They aren't just in crappy romance novels. Werewolves have mates." He finally asked, though he looked like he knew the answer already.

Derek nodded. "Stiles is my mate." There was no point in hiding it now. It was obvious to anyone with eyes how Derek felt.

The sheriff just hummed and nodded, looking away. His face was screwed up slightly, like he had a hundred and one questions, but no idea how to voice them.

"Its an instinctual thing for most wolves. Like Scott and Allison. Its almost like we don't have a choice in who our mate is, but in reality everything is a choice. But I chose Stiles." Derek explained him.

"Did Stiles know?" The sheriff asked

"I didn't feel anything towards Stiles until he turned seventeen - which is considered an adult to wolves. And I never acted on it or told him. I wanted to wait. Partially because in the human world he is still underage and illegal for me to date. And partially fear. I had...in the past...well - I had been a jerk. And I was afraid he would want nothing to do with me when he found out." Derek was baring his soul and he couldn't even bring himself to care.

The sheriff nodded. "He probably knew - somewhere deep down. Stiles was always good like that. And he talked about you all the time. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But he respected you. I think it would've worked out, in the end." He said softly.

Derek didn't miss the way the sheriff was using past tense. And he really didn't like it. His gut churned sickeningly and he squeezed Stiles's hand just a little tighter.

The two men sat in silence for a while. The sheriff was trying to find a way to voice something and Derek was trying to not panic at what announcement the sheriff was having such a hard time vocalizing.

Finally the sheriff took a deep steadying breath and sat up straight, carefully molding his features into a blank look. "The doctors say he is deteriorating fast.  They estimate only days before...before he...leaves." He finally finished voice cracking and stumbling at the end.

Derek's heart dropped through the floor and tears ran unchecked down his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN!!!!!


	4. News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek can't let Stiles die.

Stiles was dying. He was wasting away right in front of Derek's eyes.

  
"There has to be something the doctors can do. That's there job for fucks sake!" Derek burst.

"They are doing everything they can to make him comfortable, but that's all they can do. There is no coming back from this, Derek. I'm sorry." The sheriff shook his head not meeting Derek's eyes.

Derek huffed a humorless laugh. The sheriff was apologizing to him. To him! He was the one losing his son. He had no reason to apologize to anyone. This man had already lost his wife, and now his only son. And he was still thinking of others. Derek suddenly knew where Stiles got his selflessness from.

"Don't apologize. I'm sorry I snapped at you." Derek sighed slumping in his chair defeated.

"It's okay. I understand." The sheriff said quietly back. And Derek had no doubt about the truth of his words. Even if he couldn't hear the steady beat of the older mans heart.

Derek laid his head on Stiles' hand clasped in his, hiding his face in the soft skin and scratchy hospital sheets as he cried silently. He couldn't lose Stiles, but that is exactly what was happening.

Derek pulled more pain from Stiles, going just to the edge of dangerous and stopping. He did this over and over again over the next few hours, each time pushing the limits just a little further. It was like he was playing chicken with himself. But the only thing that was going through his head was that he could possibly heal Stiles. As dangerous as it was, Derek couldn't bring himself to care what would happen to himself, as long as Stiles was okay, but something was holding him back. Maybe a tiny spark of hope for some kind of miracle to happen. Derek didn't really know.

"Thank you. For taking his pain I mean." The sheriff spoke into the silence some time later.

Derek shrugged. "The hospital pain killers can only do so much." He replied massaging the long fingers of the hand he was holding. They twitched unknowingly in his grasp.

"I don't know how to tell Scott. Or the others. The rest of the pack. How do you tell a bunch of teenagers that they need to come say goodbye to their friend?" He whispered brokenly. The sheriff was still thinking of others.

"I'll help. If you want to call them in so we can tell them all at once. I don't think i could say it over and over again." Derek whispered back like talking quietly would hold death at bay. Hold the pain and sorrow at bay.

The sheriff thought about it for a minute before pursing his lips and nodding. He got up, fished through his pockets for his phone, and stepped out of the room.

Derek watched as Melissa approached him, a look of worried plastered on her face. Derek couldn't hear what she said, but the sheriff just shook his head before covering his eyes with his hands and folding in on himself slightly. Melissa pulled the large man into her arms, her own eyes full of tears.

Watching the older man break made something inside Derek snap and he made his decision. He stood and quickly pulled all the leads off of Stiles. Angry and panicked beeps sounded from various machines and he knew he had seconds.

Derek lifted the frail body into his arms bridal style and sped out of the room before anyone could react to the alarms that were for sure going off everywhere. He didn't even spare a second look at the sheriff and Melissa, just feet away from the room he was stealing Stiles from.

No one stopped him from leaving the small town hospital. Apparently a grown man carrying a catatonic teenager in a hospital gown wasn't cause for alarm. Stiles was practically limp in his arms. Derek wondered if the boy understood what was happening on some level.

Derek's car was still parked haphazardly in the same spot he left it in. He buckled Stiles into the passenger seat and closed the door carefully, making sure Stiles wasn't sitting in a painful looking position. Then he jumped into the drivers seat and sped away from the hospital as fast as he could.

Derek was determined. He didn't care what happened to him, as long as he healed Stiles. He would take whatever consequence there was. No matter what.

He was pretty sure the sheriff didn't know where he lived. He could find out because he was the sheriff of course, but it would take time. Not much time, but enough time for Derek to do what he needed to do.

Derek carried Stiles up to his loft and set him on his bed. Without hesitation he took stiles hand and started to draw the pain away. He could feel the imaginary line. He crossed it and barreled on. He could feel how he was now pulling too much from his Alpha spark. It wasn't bad at first. Like someone had taken his hair and was pulling on it, steadily pulling harder and harder. Then it got painful and he felt himself shift into his beta form and his hand shook in Stiles'. A steady growl was leaving his chest, building and building along side the pain until it was a howl. As the pain and howl peaked he could feel when Stiles was healed. It felt final. Like it snapped into place and all of a sudden there was nothing for Derek to draw from the teenager anymore.

Stiles gasped and sat up quickly, looking at Derek. Really looking at him instead of through him like he had been for weeks now. "Derek?" He asked voice hoarse from not being used.

Derek couldn't keep the smile from his face. Blackness was pushing in at the edges of his vision, but it didn't matter. Stiles was back. He was okay. He felt his eyes roll up into his head and the sensation of being weightless before something solid hit the side of his body and the blackness took over everything.

 

* * *

 

A pleasant burning sensation was flooding his body. He knew he should know what was happening. He knew he should stop whatever it was that was happening, but he couldn't remember how. He couldn't locate his voice or his body. He was trapped in his mind.

Until suddenly he wasn't. The pleasant burning stopped suddenly and the knowledge of where his body was snapped into place. He jerked upright without any thought to do so. Derek was sitting next to him, his eyes fading from his Alpha red back to the grey green they usually were.

"Derek?" Stiles asked thoroughly confused. Why was Derek here? What had happened? What was that burning before?

Derek didnt answer him, but he did smile. A full ear to ear smile that Stiles had seen maybe one other time since he had known the man. Then Derek's eyes rolled into his head and he fell to the side.

Stiles realized too late what was happening and the werewolf hit the floor hard. Stiles cringed at the hollow sound of a head hitting cement and slid off the bed to roll Derek onto his back.

He was momentarily distracted by the fact that his limbs felt stiff and muscles unused. And then because he noticed he was wearing a ugly blue hospital gown tied around him loosely so his behind peaked out occasionally. He tied the gown tighter around himself and returned to the passed out werewolf in front of him. He refused to let the fact that he was in Derek's loft distract him as well.

He lifted Derek so he was leaning against the brick wall, head lolling to the side. He was still breathing and when Stiles pressed his ear to Derek's chest, his heartbeat sounded slow and steady.

"Wake up! Derek, wake up!" Stiles ordered gently slapping the wolves cheek. Derek's eyes fluttered open.

Stiles helped Derek sit up into a more comfortable position on the floor as he woke up. His wide eyes locked on Stiles as soon as he was awake enough.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Stiles asked unnerved by his stare.

Derek lifted his hand to Stiles cheek and Stiles let him, a little weirded out by the gesture of affection, but a warm feeling bursting in his chest by it as well. The soft look in

Derek's watery eyes made Stiles heart beat faster.

"You're okay." He whispered amazed. A tear slipped from his eye and he let it fall onto his wrinkled shirt where it left a dark wet dot.

"Um yeah. Confused and weirded out, but okay." Stiles agreed furrowing his brow. He was worried about the tear. Derek never let anyone see his emotions. Well besides anger. That one he let anyone and everyone see. Often.

A loud pounding on the metal door to the loft interrupted what Derek was going to say. "Derek! I know you are in there! Open up or I will break this door down!" Stiles recognized the voice of his father. His angry father.

With a grunt Derek stood up and made his way to the door to open it. He was moving more slowly than usual, like he was walking through water.

"Sheriff." He greeted as Stiles' father pushed his way through the door as soon as it was open enough for him to fit through.

"Where is he? Where is my son? What have you done-!" The sheriff gasped as his eyes landed on his son. His son who was standing by a bed - _standing_ by the bed - all on his own.

He pulled Stiles into a bone crushing hug, crying silently and kissing the boys hair repeatedly. "Stiles. You're okay!" He breathed pulling back to get a good look at his son.

Suddenly his father turned to glare at Derek. "What did you do? Did you bite him?" He accused angrily.

Stiles looked at Derek with a pang of panic in his stomach. Why would Derek bite him? 

"No. I healed him, but I didn't bite him. I couldn't let him die. I couldn't do it." Derek almost begged.

"Woah! You couldn't let me die! What in the fuck is going on!?" Stiles almost shouted, stopping his father from saying whatever it was he was about to say.

The two men went silent, both looking at Stiles with matching looks of fear. Stiles was fighting the panic that was bubbling up in his stomach. He could feel the tension and fear like it was a physical thing. His breathing picked up the longer the two stayed silent.

"What is the last thing you remember?" The sheriff asked eventually, picking his words carefully.

Stiles thought. He remembered driving in his jeep. He remembered the rain being so bad that he could barely see out of his windshield. But he doesn't remember much of anything else. Just the cold feeling of fear.

"I was driving home in the rain." Stiles shrugged trying for nonchalant.

The sheriff nodded. "Your jeep hydroplaned and spun. Your jeeps fine, but you hit your head. You were in the hospital for weeks. It was bad, Stiles." He said.

Derek scoffed. "Bad. Yeah it was bad. You were dying, Stiles!" He snapped ignoring the glare the sheriff was giving him.

"D-dying!!" Stiles sputtered feeling his eyes grow wide.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It may be a couple days before I get another chapter up. Sorry in advance and I will get something up as soon as I can.


	5. Steady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The visit to Deaton yields some unpleasant surprises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I am so sorry it took F O R E V E R to get this chapter done and up.
> 
> I really hope it was worth the wait for you!
> 
> Love you and thank you all for your support, comments, and kudos!

Stiles could feel his chest tighten. It felt like he couldn't breath. When Derek first said that he couldn't let Stiles die, Stiles thought he was just being overly dramatic.  
After all Stiles felt fine now. He felt stronger than ever, actually. There was no way he was actually dying not that long ago. It just wasn't possible.

"Stiles!" His father gasped. Stiles looked up to meet his fathers eye. The mans eyes were wide and full of a mixture of worry and fear. The look made Stiles' heart race even more, which he didn't think was possible.

"What! Whats wrong?" Stiles asked feeling his shoulders tense.

"Y-you! Your-!" His father faltered and finally gave up and went silent.

"My what?" Stiles yelled flailing his arms around wildly.

"Your eyes are glowing, like ours do. They are green." Derek answers him quietly, looking confused and just a little guilty.

Stiles unconsciously ran his hand over his right eye, like he could feel how his eyes were changing. All he felt was a slight warmth in his eyes, nothing he would have ever noticed if he wasn't paying attention to it.

"Y-you said you didn't bite me." Stiles accused feeling tears well up in his eyes.

"I didn't. I swear I didn't bite you! I used my Alpha spark to heal you. That's all." Derek almost begged Stiles to believe him, stepping towards Stiles.

"So then why are his eyes glowing like that?" The sheriff asked angrily.

"I don't know!" Derek raised his voice slightly. And he truly didn't.

Stiles rushed into Derek's bathroom, slamming the door and turning to the mirror. They weren't lying. His eyes were glowing a bright green. His breathing hitched and he touched his cheek gently.

"Oh my God!" He breathed blinking rapidly like that would make the green go away.

"How could you steal him away like that?" Stiles heard his father ask Derek. He sounded sad and exhausted.

"It wasn't a long term plan or anything. I guess I just never let myself believe he would actually die. And then there was nothing the doctors could do, and we were just waiting for him to - I snapped. I just couldn't do nothing. Sheriff, you know who - what he is to me. I couldn't let him die." Derek explained.

Stiles could hear his fathers feet shuffling on the cement floor of Derek's loft. "He may never want to talk to you again, or see you for that matter. You may still lose him." The sheriff replied.

"But he will be alive and safe. That's all I ever wanted. For Stiles to be safe." Derek stated.

His fathers phone rang loudly, making Stiles flinch and cover his ears. With a start he realized he was listening to a whispered conversation on the other side of the loft. Something he should never have been able to hear. This time his breathing completely stopped, not starting again until his lungs were screaming for oxygen. He forced in a large gulp of air, then another.

He needed to find out just what in the hell was going on. What did Derek do? Why were his eyes glowing like a freaking glow stick? What was he exactly to Derek? And as much as he hated the idea, there was one man who may be able to answer at least some of his millions of questions. The ever annoying and cryptic vet, Deaton.

Stiles went to join the two older men again. "Yeah, okay. I'll be there as soon as I can." His father finished his phone call and hung up the phone.

"You have to go." Stiles stated with a knowing sigh.

"I can stay until we figure out what is going on. They can manage without me." His dad suggested.

"No, don't worry about it. Derek and I are going to go to Deaton to see if he knows whats going on. We will be fine." Stiles smiled at his dad, like he always did when his dad was called into work. Ever since he was a kid.

Derek noticed the smell of sadness rolling off Stiles slightly, but didn't say anything about it. It was a old sadness, a resigned sadness. One that would only come from the son of the town sheriff, who was often called to duty at any and all times of the day and night. Someone who was often left alone to fend for himself, to make himself dinner, to tuck himself in at night.

The sheriff gave his son a grimace. "I'll make it fast. Keep me updated on anything you find out." He said. He pulled Stiles into a tight hug.

Stiles let his dad hold him for longer than was strictly necessary, smelling the anxiety and relief on the man and feeling how tense his muscles were under his palms. Stiles tried not to freak out about the fact that he could actually smell his fathers emotions. Just like a werewolf.

"I love you, son." He whispered into Stiles' ear just before he pulled away.

"Love you too, dad. Be safe." Stiles replied as the sheriff turned and started towards the door.

The sheriff raised a hand in a wave and slid the loft door shut behind him and leaving Derek and Stiles alone.

"I need clothes before we go. Do you have anything that will fit me?" Stiles asked the wolf.

"Uhh...I think I can find something that will work." He replied.

Derek dug through his drawers until he found a t-shirt and a pair of sweats with a draw string to tighten up the waist. They would still be slightly big on Stiles, but it was better than the horrid hospital gown he currently wore.

As he handed Stiles the clothes he noted that the boys eyes had gone back to their whiskey brown. Stiles changed into the clothes quickly.

"Alright, lets go." He mumbled.

Derek was tense the whole car ride to the veterinary office, waiting for Stiles to explode on him. Start screaming and hitting him. Demanding answers Derek didn't have. But Stiles stayed uncharacteristically quiet the entire fifteen minute drive. He stared out the window beside him, facing away from Derek. He wasn't even fidgeting like he usually did, he was perfectly still. Eerily so.

The vet was sitting at his desk doing some paperwork when they walked in. "Stiles, I didn't know you were out of the hospital yet. Scott said you weren't going to be out for a while yet." Deaton greeted standing up.

"Um, yeah. That's sorta what we came to talk to you about." Stiles answered.

The vet nodded and led them into the back room. The next ten minutes was filled with Derek retelling the events of the last few days. Right up until Stiles eyes glowing.

"I can also hear everything, like I swear a mouse just farted somewhere. And I can smell emotions." Stiles added in when Derek was done. Derek hadn't known about those new developments and wasn't sure what to make of them. Stiles surely seemed to be everything a werewolf is, but he wasn't bitten or born.

Deaton was silent for a few seconds, staring at the metal table in front of him with his brow furrowed in thought. "Derek, you said you used your Alpha spark to heal him. You know how dangerous that is. Are you still an Alpha?" Deaton asked. he had his arms crossed over his chest.

As an answer Derek flared his eyes. They were still Alpha red. He still felt the power of an Alpha coursing through him. "I knew that there would be consequences, I thought I would lose my Alpha power or something." He informed them.

"Well, losing your Alpha spark is only one of the consequences that could have happened. The consequences are different for everyone. In this case it looks like Stiles is your consequence." Deaton supplies.

"What do you mean I'm his consequence?" Stiles asks quietly shifting his weight from foot to foot. Derek could smell the myriad of emotions rolling off the teen. Panic, anger, worry, fear, he has a little of everything just barely suppressed under the surface. Stiles was trying to keep himself under control, and slowly losing the battle.

Deaton took a second to chose his words carefully. "From what I've heard from both of you, it sounds like Stiles took to the Alpha spark that healed him. The little bit of spark

Derek used to heal you, Stiles, embedded itself inside you and flourished. You are a new breed of werewolf. Not born, not bitten. You two are bonded in a very rare and strong way. You see, sparks are a lot like fingerprints. Each one is unique, different. You two quite literally share the same spark."

"Dude - you Dragonhearted me!" Stiles snapped.

"The consequence was supposed to be on me, not Stiles! How to I change it?" Derek asked ignoring Stiles' terrible movie reference.

"You cant choose the consequence, Derek, and this is yours. There is no changing it." Deaton says before walking out of the room and effective dismissing them.

Derek ran a hand through his hair before angrily turning and stomping from the room leaving Stiles staring at a white wall all by himself.

Derek paced angrily in the parking lot, trying to focus on the gravel crunching under his feet. The stones pushing into the bottom of his shoes.

He really stepped in it. Stiles was very clear on his feeling about staying human and Derek went ahead and turned him. Even if he didn't mean to. He still did.

He just lost his mate forever. How could Stiles ever forgive him. Still, what he said to the sheriff was only halfway true. He would stay away if Stiles never wanted to see him again. He would leave quietly. It would break his heart, but he would do anything to make Stiles happy.

Derek's eyes burned with tears as he thought about not seeing Stiles ever again. Never hearing his sarcastic comments or watching him fidget and squirm. Or trying to memorize all the visible moles during the rare times Stiles wore a tank top and shorts.

One things for sure, nothing would ever be the same again.

 

* * *

 

The drive back to the loft was just as silent as the drive to the Deatons. Only this time around was worse. The air was thick with tension. So thick Derek was almost choking on it.

He wanted to just snap. He wanted Stiles to say something to him. He didn't care what. Even if the only thing Stiles did was scream at him. At least it was something. This sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop was killing him.

Once at the loft Derek led Stiles back inside and shut the door behind himself with a clank.

"There is some food and drink in the fridge. You are welcome to anything." Derek said breaking the silence.

"I'm - not human." Stiles said in a monotone voice. He was standing in the middle of the loft, looking at the ceiling, his arms hanging limp at his sides.

"I know." Derek said back.

Stiles spun on his heal and turned to Derek, his eyes flashing green. "I never wanted _any_  of this!" Stiles said his voice raising.

"I couldn't just let you die." Derek tried. He had to make Stiles understand. Even if he never forgave him, Stiles deserved to understand.

"Why?" Stiles asked throwing his arms up in the air. A single tear streaked down his cheek.

The sight made Derek want to pull the teenager into his arms and hide him with his body. Shield Stiles from whatever hurt him. But then Derek realized that he was the one that hurt Stiles.

"Because I love you!"  The words tumbled from Derek's mouth before he could stop them. Stiles had enough on his plate, he didn't need this bomb shell as well.

Derek's eyes flashed blue quickly as emotions ran through him, and Stiles' eyes went back to their brown in shock.

"No you don't. You hate me." Stiles whispered.

"I love you." Derek repeated. There was no use trying to take it back now. The cat was out of the bag, as they say.

"You are constantly shoving me against walls and growling at me! All you do is glare at me!" Stiles pointed out.

"Werewolves are considered adults at an earlier age than humans. I didn't know you were my mate until you turned seventeen." Derek tried to explain, internally flinching.

Stiles waved his hands in front of himself to stop Derek. "Woah, woah, woah, woah! Mate?! What the fuck, dude?!" He sputtered his face turning a shade darker.

Derek froze when he realized what he said. He wasn't sure how to explain to Stiles about this. This was such a huge, monstrous thing. And Stiles was bound to lose it soon.  There was only so much one person could take at once.

"Derek. Explain what you mean by mates. I deserve to know. I am feeling and seeing and smelling so much right now, i deserve to have some of it explained." Stiles snapped.

"Jus - Just sit down Stiles. I'll tell you anything you want to know." Derek promised gesturing to the couch.

Stiles hesitated, eyeing Derek suspiciously, then finally sat down on the very edge of the couch. Derek sighed deciding that that was the best he was going to get. He sat down on the coffee table in front of Stiles, scooting the table back so he wasn't crowding into Stiles space. Stiles was already on edge, he didn't need to make it worse.

Derek took a deep steadying breath.


	6. Explain To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek explaining things.

Derek rubbed his hands together and gathered his nerves while he watched Stiles grow more and more impatient each second.

  
"I know its all overwhelming right now. All your senses are going crazy and you aren't used to it. You will eventually learn how to tune things out." Derek started. He was procrastinating getting to the topic Stiles asked about, but it wasn't like this didn't need to be said too.

"I figured. I mean Scott seemed to adjust to the extra senses fast enough. It was the shifting he had a slight problem with. Will I shift?" Stiles asked suddenly, eyes reflexively darting to the window even though it was still day time.

"I don't know. But there is no need to worry about that now. The full moon was just last week so you have a few weeks yet." Derek answered.

Stiles nodded, looking at Derek's hands instead of his face. Even so, Derek was still able to see the teens face when a sudden question popped into his head. His eyes lit up and his lips twitched just slightly into a smirk.

"Do you think we can merge into a superwolf like Ethan and Aiden? You know since we share the same wolfie spark or whatever. If so I wanna be the one to merge with you because it just seems painful the other way round." Stiles rambled shivering slightly as he imagined it.

"Stiles. Just no. Plus that was a alpha ability thing. A power they got by killing off their entire pack." He cut in before Stiles could continue to ramble.

"Yeah i guess that makes sense." He shrugged looking slightly relieved.

There was a slight pause where they just sat in silence and thought. Derek watched Stiles closely, half expecting him to suddenly snap and punch a hole in the wall or something.

"So about this mates thing. Is it like what you read in trashy romance novels? Like love at first sight, no choice in the matter kind of thing?" Stiles finally asked.

Derek snorted. "Romance novel tend to over exaggerate. Its more like a instinct. You are drawn to this person. They are... comforting. More comforting than anyone else in your life. But you can resist it. Its not easy, but its doable. I've resisted since you turned seventeen. Even though I knew I loved you. And before you turned of age I was still drawn to you, still cared for you. I just didn't show it very well." He explained.

  
It was Stiles' turn to snort. "That's an understatement." He laughed. He remembered the numerous bruises on his back and chest from being slammed into walls, lockers, doors, basically anything.

"To be fair, i haven't been violent towards you in a long time. I barely even threaten you anymore." Derek pointed out to defend himself.

Stiles smiled widely, but sobered quickly. "That's...Derek, I cant...Its-" Stiles didn't quite know how to voice everything he was feeling. It felt like he went through a different emotion every second. Everything was so different but also completely the same.

Derek was still Derek. He was still all eyebrows and sourwolf-y, but now he was in love with Stiles. And Stiles had had a crush on Derek for years now, but his emotions were so much - bigger and stronger than they were before he was turned. he felt everything deep into his bones.

And his sight. It took awhile to notice it, but he could see so much more detail. Every micro crack in the cement floor. Every tiny facial twitch Derek made. Stiles always thought he had only one facial expression - pissed off - but he was wrong. Derek's expression changed constantly, subtle shifts that changed everything. An eyebrow quirked up, the corner of his mouth twitching just slightly into a smile, his gorgeous green gold eyes narrowing or widening just the tiniest bit.

The smells told him just as much if not more. He could smell the anxiety wafting off the man sitting in front of him. But under the anxiety was guilt, and hope, and love, and fear, and sadness. And he could smell all of them. Stiles could even pick out each individual scent and put a name to the emotion. He didn't know how he knew, it was like an instinct.

Almost as overwhelming as all the new feelings was the hearing. He could hear someone clearing their throat. He could hear that they were currently walking by on the street below the loft. He could hear a car radio from two miles away. One of those annoying screamo songs that you couldn't ever understand and gave him a headache.

  
The hearing would fade in and out. And he couldn't control if and when it happened. All of a sudden he would be assaulted with every little pin drop within half a mile and the next second he would only be able to hear things within the loft.

Derek slowly moved a hand to rest of Stiles' knee. A move purely to sooth him. "Don't worry about it now. After what happened - what I did - I don't expect you to even be able to wrap your head around this right now. And I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted nothing to do with me ever again." He said.

Stiles welcomed the touch.  It was comforting in a way that almost made him want to sag into the man in front of him.  He never wanted the warmth of Derek's hand to leave his skin.  He wanted to feel it forever.  He wanted to touch him back and see if the rest of his body was just as hot as his hand was.  But all too soon the hand was gone, taking the warmth and comfort with it.  Stiles almost whined.  He took a deep breath to get his thought back to where they needed to be.  It took a minute with three times more distractions than there usually were.

"I'm going to need time. I-I-its all so confusing and I - I just need to sort everything out before I make any decisions whatsoever. I mean I've been in a freaking coma for fucks sake! Scott and the rest of the pack don't even know what happened yet. Do they even know I'm awake?" Stiles asked his mind whirling again.

"Stiles. relax. There is plenty of time for that. And the pack will understand and accept you. You have nothing to worry about." Derek soothed.

"I don't want to tell them alone, Derek. I don't want to face them alone." Stiles whispered suddenly afraid of their reactions. He had known Scott all his life, had a crush on Lydia for years, but he was suddenly terrified of how they would take the news of him being turned.

"You wont be alone. I'll call them over for a meeting and we can tell them together." Derek promised.

Stiles sighed and nodded, giving him a small smile. Derek pulled out his phone and sent a mass text to the pack telling them it was urgent news about Stiles and they needed to get to the loft immediately. 

Now all that was left to do was wait.


	7. New Scents

Stiles was not good at waiting.

Derek had suggested he wait in the bedroom upstairs until everyone got there so he only had to explain things once. And Stiles agreed.

So now he was pacing around the bedroom while Derek cleared his new scent from downstairs. He claimed the changed scent would give it away and the pack members that could smell it would either get defensive because of the strange - yet somehow similar - scent or they would demand answers. He wanted to avoid both of those.

"Stop wearing a hole in my floor, Stiles. Everything will be okay, I promise." Derek called softly from downstairs, but Stiles could hear him as clearly as he would have if Derek was standing right in front of him.

Stiles made a noise halfway between a groan and a whine and plopped down on the bed, choosing instead to fiddle with the drawstrings on the pants Derek lent him.

Derek was restless downstairs as well. After he got Stiles scent out of the loft, something that took him years to figure out how to do, he was constantly straightening the couch pillows, or moving the coffee table back to where it was supposed to be. Anything to try to keep his mind occupied.

He heard the rumble of Scotts bike first. Followed quickly by other, quieter engines. Confused voices floated up to the loft as Scott and - from the smell of gunpowder and wolfsbane - Allison started up the stairs. Derek could smell the tension and nerves before they even got to the door.

Derek slid the loft door open before the teenagers could knock.

"Derek. This sounded important. Whats going on?" Scott asked as they walked in.

"I'll explain as soon as everyone gets here." Derek replied turning away from the teens.

Allison followed him. "Does this have something to do with Stiles? We tried to go see him in the hospital and they wouldn't let us in. Did something happen?" She pushed tentatively like she really didn't want to know the answer, but had to ask the question anyways.

"Is he - is he okay?" Scott croaked when Derek didn't answer.

Derek took a deep breath. He felt a little guilty that Scott was suffering, but he and Stiles had already decided how to tell everyone. Stiles wanted everyone to know at once, and Derek wasn't going to deny him.

"Scott, just wait for everyone to get here." Derek breathed trying to at least send out soothing waves to the young wolf.

"Derek!" Scott growled in warning.

They were interrupted when Boyd, Erica, and Issac arrived. "Ooh, drama. What did we miss?" Erica asked perching on the arm of the couch.

"Derek's being Derek." Allison said with an annoyed sigh.

"Shocking." Lydia said as she walked in with the rest of the pack.

Danny sat on the couch, letting Ethan sit by his feet and use his legs to lean on. He carded his hands through the wolves hair unconsciously and the wolf practically melted into the touch.

Derek almost choked on all the emotions in the room. Tension and worry and anxiety and fear all swirling together and filling the room.

"Great. Now that everyone's here can you tell us what happened to Stiles?" Scott snapped his eyes flashing momentarily.

Derek nodded and waited for everyone to get as settled as they could before taking a deep breath. Everyone's full and undivided attention was on him.

"Okay, first off, Stiles is alive and okay - sorta." Derek started.

"What do you mean sorta?" Scott snapped taking a step closer.

Lydia also took a step forward, though it was more to get everyone attention and not to attack like Scott. "Where is Stiles?" She asked calmly.

"He is here. But you need to listen first. Its important." Derek insisted quickly. Scott looked ready to tear through the loft until he found Stiles, but a soft touch from Allison stopped him, calming him down slightly.

"You need to understand something. There was no hope. The doctors couldn't do anything. Stiles was dying and no one could stop it. So I - I did something." Derek continued.

"What did you do?" Allison asked when Derek didn't continue.

"Did you bite him?" Issac asked from his spot leaning against the wall.

Scott growled lowly, his head snapping to Derek, waiting for his answer. "No! I did not bite him. But I did to something. I used the pain relief werewolves do. Alphas have a stronger spark, we can heal, if we push. I went past the line. Its dangerous and there are consequences. I pushed as far as I could. I had to save him, I didn't care about what happened to me, as long as I could save him." Derek shifted from one foot to the other, worried about their reactions.

"So what was the consequence?" Boyd asked breaking his usual stoic silence.

"I didn't know. It was supposed to be my consequence, it was supposed to only affect me. But it didn't. Using my Alpha spark to heal Stiles turned him. He shares my spark - he is a werewolf." Derek finished quickly, looking at the floor. He heard Stiles shift upstairs and wondered if anyone else picked up on it.

"Stiles is a werewolf?" Aiden clarified a slight smile tugging at his lips. Lydia elbowed him in the ribs.

"Yes. And he seems to have the abilities of an Alpha as well. Extra senses and all that. He is still adjusting." He answered.

"Stiles!" Scott yelled suddenly almost making Derek jump.

It was a few seconds before the door to the upstairs bedroom opened and Stiles slowly stepped out. He walked down half the stairs before stopping, not daring to even look up to see the looks on his friends faces.

Derek stepped closer to him, silently willing the teenagers erratic heartbeat to return to something closer to a normal rhythm.

It was only a few seconds before Stiles' new scent to hit everyone. The ones who could pick up a scent breathed in deeply, picking out the differences and the similarities to the old scent of their friend.

Stiles was trying very hard to take short, shallow breaths, not wanting to smell what his friends were feeling. He was beyond terrified that he would smell disgust or revulsion. He was petrified they would reject him.

Derek was nearby and Stiles fought the urge to reach out for him. To seek comfort from the man.

"Holy shit! He wasn't lying! Stiles, your a freaking werewolf!" Scott yelled making Stiles flinch visibly. Derek scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"I didn't even know you could become a werewolf without being bitten or born into it." Aiden piped in.

"And this is because you healed him with your Alpha Spark?" Danny asked. Even though he couldn't smell the same things the others could, he couldn't deny their reaction. Ethan tensed up behind him out of instinct as soon as Stiles' smell hit him. He rubbed his mates arm soothingly.

"Yes. But I didn't know that this would happen." Derek insisted again.

Scott was slowly ascending the stairs, his unblinking eyes never leaving his best friend. Stiles shifted nervously, his flight instincts kicking in, but he forced them down. He made himself stay in place as Scott came up to him.

When Scott was on the stair just below Stiles he slowly lifted a hand and pushed gently on Stiles's shoulder, barely hard enough to move him. He let out a breathy laugh. "I cant believe it." He whispered.

Stiles couldn't tell if he was reacting in a positive way or a negative way. Scotts smell was primarily shock with a little sadness mixed in. Stiles was unsure how to react. If he needed to be defensive or if he could relax. No one else in the room had made a move toward him. though he saw some eyes flash briefly before returning to normal.

"What the hell did pushing me accomplish. I'm a werewolf not a ghost. Still solid, dude." Stiles said opting to fall back on his wit.

"Yup, that is totally Stiles." Lydia sighed.

Scott laughed and pulled Stiles into a hug. "Dude, I know this is a rough time for you right now. Life changing. But I am so glad you are okay again! You have no idea." He said.

"No fun coma times for you?" Stiles asked awkwardly when Scott pulled away leading him down the stairs.

Stiles went willingly. He felt better now that he knew Scott hadn't rejected him like he feared he would. And no one else seemed too defensive, tense maybe, but not ready to rip his throat out or anything, so yay.

Allison reached out to hug him as soon as he was in reach, smiling widely. As he pulled away, he didn't mean too, but he felt his eyes flash. There was a small but collective gasp at his green eyes.

"Your eyes are green!" Erica shrieked in shock. Stiles flinched instinctively.

"Uh, yeah. I'm not really sure why. I guess its because of the weird way I was turned." Stiles answers her unspoken question. She let out a high pitched joyous laugh.

"Of course you would be as strange as a werewolf as you were a human." Issac scoffed, but the small smile that crooked up one corner of his mouth softened his words. The room filled with quiet chuckles.

"Dude, my mom has been so flustered today. She is going to be so happy you are okay!" Scott told him as they all settled down.

Stiles subconsciously kept track of where Derek was. Currently slinking quietly in the background and letting the pack get used to Stiles' new self.  


	8. Same old, same old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know it's been forever since I've posted and I am so so so so sorry! And this is even a short chapter too! UGH I SUCK! Hang in there I'm going to try to be more frequent. I have a vacation coming up though and my work schedule is always different because its not fixed. Sorry!

Like the chicken he was Stiles convinced Scott to come and stay with him at his house. He was avoiding talking to Derek again. He was confused about a lot of things and a lot of things had been thrown at him since he woke up - or whatever you want to call it.

Derek didn't say anything when he asked Scott, but he could almost feel him tense up just slightly. He couldn't dwell on it though. He needed some time to think everything through. He needed time to come to terms with how much of a 180 his life has turned in just the span of a few hours - or well a few hours for him at least. For everyone else it been much longer.

So he was now sitting on the old couch in the living room he grew up in. The living room he said his first word and took his first steps. Where he sat with his mom on saturday mornings and watched cartoons while eating pancakes cooked with bacon grease. It was a Saturday tradition that died when his mother did. Though he sometimes missed it, he really missed his mother. Especially right now.

"Here. You should drink some water. Its just as tasteless as a werewolf as it was when you were human. It can settle your nerves to have something that is the same." Scott explains handing Stiles a glass of ice water.

Stiles nodded and took a tentative sip. Then another, and another. Before he knew it the glass was empty. Scott was telling the truth. There was nothing different about the water. It was exactly the same as it had been all his life.

Scott took the glass from him and left to go fill it again.

When he came back Stiles was slightly more relaxed, leaning back against the couch and letting one leg bounce in front of him.

"You feeling any better?" Scott asked sitting on the other end of the couch and propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"Yes - no - not really. Dude, i can hear my neighbor wheezing while smoking a cigarette two doors down. I can smell the stray cat pissing in the back yard." Stiles answered.

Scott wrinkled his nose catching on to the same things Stiles was pointing out.

"Don't worry. As time passes you will learn how to focus on things better, so you don't hear everything. It's not something I can really teach you, its more of a automatic thing. It will come, and you will get used to everything." Scott informed with a sigh.

Scott and Stiles ordered pizza and ate a bag of chips each while marathoning the Star Wars movies. And Stiles didn't even care about the fact that he was eating so much junk food because - hello freaky wolf metabolism!

His dad didn't make it home until after midnight. Scott was asleep on the couch, one arm hanging off the couch and knuckles dragging against the chip crumb covered carpet. Stiles was sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the coffee table, unable to sleep even if he tried.

"Hey, son, how are you feeling?" His father asked sitting down in the worn out armchair.

"Everyone keeps asking me that. All I want is for everything to go back to normal!" Stiles sighed letting his head bang onto the coffee table with a thud. He could feel the bruise form and immediately disappear. He groaned lowly at the odd new feeling.

"I'm sorry, son. I know this was never part of your plans." His dad said softly. Stiles could smell the sadness and guilt his father was feeling. The stench of it made his eyes water.

"No, it wasn't. Life seems to like throwing things at me. Anyways dad, I'm going to go and try and get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." He said standing up and making his way up the stairs after giving his father a hug.

Stiles was slightly shocked to not feel winded when he reached the top of the stairs. He usually was just slightly out of breath by the time he climbed all the stairs, but this time he felt nothing. He was certain he could climb another 2000 stairs and still not feel winded. The revelation made him pause for just a second right outside his door.

Spinning around he headed for the bathroom instead. He spent the next hour or so staring at himself in the mirror. He would make his eyes glow and attempt to beta shift entirely. While his fingernails grew into claws, he couldn't get his face or teeth to shift like the others did.

From what he could tell, without intentionally harming himself, he healed like any other were, and he definitely felt stronger than before. He could feel the strength thrumming through his veins, buzzing like a electric current, making him feel almost like he was vibrating.

Stiles flexed his hands, inspecting his new claws. The sharp, deadly, claws that he now had whenever he wanted, and sometimes when he didn't. It was a whole new thing about himself that he would have to learn to control and deal with, although he didn't think pills would help this. He wasn't even sure his Adderall would work at all anymore. Did werewolves take prescriptions? Did they help? Or would his new super fast metabolism make them useless?

Speaking of...Yay fast metabolism! Curly fries 24/7 anyone?

His dad was already in bed when he finally left the bathroom. He could hear Scott snoring softly downstairs on the couch. When he opened his door he was hit square on with his own scent, dirty laundry, and the smell of frustrated teenager. He breathed in deep, knowing this is him. This is his smell.

He stripped out of the borrowed clothes, slipped on a pair of his own pajama pants and climbed into bed, curling up under his familiar blankets and burying his face in his pillow. He wasn't sure he would get to sleep anytime soon, but he let himself relax into the familiar surroundings, forgetting all the crazy he had been through for just a moment. It worked, he eventually slipped into a peaceful sleep.


	9. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles cant stop thinking and decides to confront Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been a super long time since I have updated. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it just a little. I got some feels in this one. Just a little. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Scott had to leave early the next morning. Something about Allison needing something or other. Stiles didn't really listen to Scott's excuses, knowing that he was being ditched for a girl. It was obvious when he was human, he didn't need his new senses to know Scott was lying now.

  
He waved Scott off feeling a flutter of nerves as he watched him speed away. This was the first time he would really be alone, with no one to distract him. He would be all alone with his thoughts.

  
Thoughts of how his life has changed drastically in less that 24 hours. He was no longer human, and he had a mate. Derek was his mate. Of all people he never expected Derek to have some sort of supernatural connection to him.

  
Derek was obviously dripping with sexiness and the star of many of Stiles fantasies. And Stiles had been harboring a secret crush on the man for over a year now, but he never expected Derek to have feelings for him. He was Stiles. The spaz of the pack. The weakest link, the human.

  
Or at least he used to be human. But now - now Stiles was a werewolf. Now he could keep up with the others. They would have no excuse anymore to leave him behind or keep him out of the loop. He was just as strong and capable as the rest of them now. He could protect himself.

  
Oh yeah, he was beginning to see the silver lining in this dark cloud. I mean sure. He never wanted to be a werewolf. Denied the bite from Peter and everything. He liked being human. But this - this was done without his permission. It was done to save his life! That was why he couldn't be too mad at Derek. Derek was trying to save him, he didn't know the outcome would be this.

  
Stiles went on a bit of a cleaning binge. He cleaned the living room and kitchen from top to bottom. Did every piece of laundry he could find. Cleaned his room - even made his bed. He cleaned and cleaned until there was nothing left to clean.

  
All the while his mind raced and raced. He couldn't stop his thoughts from running wild. He bounced from trying to remember what happened after the accident, to Derek, to being a werewolf, and round and round.

  
Out of things to do he sat on the couch and inspected his claws again. He practiced letting them out and pulling them back in multiple times. Trying to learn control. It would only help so much. Derek or Scott would have to teach him to have enough control for the full moon, but it would get him through the days leading up to it. The normal days when normal everyday things would make him go were, revealing himself and his pack.

  
Oh god, he was truly pack now. He wasn't just the human hanging on to the edge of pack trying to be apart of something and help. Trying to save his friends. No he was a were and actually pack now. He could actually help now. No more being left behind or out of things to 'keep him safe'. No more being the weak link enemies used to hurt the pack.

  
"This is ridiculous!" Stiles said to himself a couple minutes later.

  
He started to look for his keys before he remembered he had no idea where they were, or where his jeep was. He had never thought to ask his dad if his jeep was even okay.  
With a sigh he headed out of the house on foot. It was only about a twenty minute walk to the loft where Stiles assumed Derek was. He could've called Derek if he had his cell phone. But he hadn't asked for that back yet either. And nobody had a landline anymore.

  
Derek opened the loft door just as Stiles got to it, having heard him coming from the moment he stepped inside the building. "Morning, Stiles." Derek grunted. He was wearing a slightly sweaty white tank top and black basketball shorts. The skin Stiles could see was shiny with sweat. He must have been exercising.

  
"Sorry to interrupt. I couldn't get out of my head. Its just - everything changed and things came to the light, and I'm not quite sure how to react to most of it." Stiles walked into the loft and started to pace from the big window back to the door and back. Derek stood off to the side with his arms crossed, letting Stiles rant.

  
"I mean on the one hand I am a werewolf, which I never wanted, I denied the bite when Peter offered it to me. I was completely fine being the spazy human, but shit happens. A - and I'm not complaining. I am grateful you saved my life - I really am. If it came down to it and you were able to give me the choice I most likely would have chosen the bite - because I could never leave my dad alone like that." He paused to take a breath and glance at Derek who was staring at the ground listening intently.

  
"And even though this is all terrifying and new, I know I have you and Scott to help me. I'll be able to control myself on the full moon. And now that I am not human, I will be more help to the pack - which is awesome! I mean lets face it, I was only in the pack because Scott was in the pack. And I made myself useful by researching the big bads when you needed it. But I was a liability. And now I'm not. Funny thing is, I didn't even know I felt like that until I was turned." Stiles was pacing faster now, almost making himself dizzy.

  
"Stop, Stiles." Derek started. He waited until Stiles stopped pacing and looked at him. "You were never a liability. And you were helpful to the pack as a human too. You kept us rooted to our human lives. School, work, friends, parties, you reminded us about all of that. And now that you are a werewolf you will continue to do all that and more. Its just who you are."

  
Stiles was stunned. Derek had never said anything so nice about him. And all in one sitting. Until yesterday he thought Derek hated him and only put up with him because of Scott.

  
"I have had a massive crush on you for a year now. Like it made my crush on Lydia pale in comparison it was so big. I didn't even know I liked guys, so it took me a while to recognize my feelings for you for what they were. And I thought you hated me, so I never planned to act on them or anything.  It was just going to remain a crush." Stiles said changing the subject. Derek winced a little at his words and the smell of regret wafted off him.

  
"I am sorry about that. I tried to make up for it as much as I could without letting you or anyone else know what was really going on. Its hard to keep secrets from pack though." Derek shrugged.

  
Stiles sat down on the couch. "Did everyone know? Did Scott know?" He asked feeling a little betrayed and left out.

  
Derek didn't like these smells coming off of Stiles and hurried to try and make it better. "I am not sure. If they did they didn't say anything. Although, when I showed up at the hospital when you first arrived - they may have figured it out then, if they didn't already know. I was kind of...panicky." Derek struggled to find the right word for what he felt that day. And panic wasn't even close to what he felt, but it was the closest he could think of at the moment.

  
Stiles just nodded in response, playing with his long fingers. He took a deep breath to brace himself for what he was going to say next. "All that said, I need a while before anything happens - if it ever does. E - everything has changed for me and I have to relearn everything. So we - us - needs to be put on the back burner. I'm sorry, Derek. One day in the future, when everything is settled, maybe we can try this whole thing out." He spoke slowly and quietly afraid to meet Derek's eyes.

  
Derek sat on the couch next to him. "There is no need to be sorry, Stiles. I understand completely. I wont pressure you. I'll treat you like I did before you knew and we can move on for now. I am more than willing to remain just friends." He soothed.

  
Sure, Stiles' rejection hurt more than a little, but Derek wasn't lying. He understood and was even expected this. He would do anything as long as Stiles remained in his life in some way or another. He didn't care how. He could do this for Stiles.


	10. Massacre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to test Stiles' control

"This is a terrible idea! I can't do this!" Stiles said gripping the steering wheel of his jeep so tight he could feel it start to crack under his new strength.

"We talked about this. You can do this. Its nothing you haven't done a thousand times." Scott replied. Stiles could almost hear the inaudible sigh.

Scott had a point, but this was different now. He was different. "I'm not ready yet! Maybe I should wait a little longer. A week or two. What harm is that going to do really?" He reasoned.

"A lot actually, and you know that. Come on Stiles, what are you afraid of?" Scott asked turning towards him.

Stiles swallowed thickly. "You know, the usual. Blood, gore, screaming, a massacre!" Stiles flailed his arms around to emphasize his point.

Scott did sigh now. "You know none of us will let anything happen to you."

"I'm not worried about me! I'm worried about everyone else. I only just barely have control of my wolf side and I've been working with Derek for two days! Two entire days with Derek, Scott!" Stiles yelled.

After their little heart to heart, Derek immediately started trying to teach Stiles control. They started with Derek using the same tactic as he first used with Scott. Anger and pain.

But Stiles took as well to it as Scott did. They gave up on that route after six exhausting hours of work. Which included Derek trying to get Stiles to fully beta shift, even though Stiles told him repeatedly that he couldn't. Derek didn't believe it.

The second tactic was finding a physical anchor. Like how Allison was Scott's anchor or Isaac's dad was his anchor. So Stiles went with the obvious choice, his dad. And it worked somewhat. His mind kept wandering back to Derek though. And Stiles would have to force it back to his dad.

  
In the end he only just barely managed to control his wolfie parts. He didn't hear everything all the time now, so his head didn't feel ready to explode. It took effort though. The smell was still just as strong as ever. And his eyes still flashed if he got too emotional.

  
Long story short, this was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea!

  
Scott was quiet for a long moment while Stiles had a mini panic attack next to him and struggled to hold his wolf at bay.

  
"Stiles, there are six werewolves, including me, with you. Plus Allison and her hunter skills. We can take you down easily if we need to - which we wont. There is absolutely nothing - I repeat nothing - to worry about." Scott promised.

  
Stiles nodded and took a deep breath watching the groups of people file into the dull brick building. The innocent, unsuspecting, blissfully unaware of the supernatural, people. People that his new claws could tear into like hot butter. People who couldn't heal fast or even hope to defend themselves against him.

  
"Lets get inside. Back on the horse, right?" Scott pushed after Stiles was silent for too long.

  
Stiles took a deep steadying breath. "Yeah...yeah, okay. Lets go." He said.

  
He slid out of his jeep and slung his backpack over one shoulder. With a sigh he slid easily into the group and headed through a set of double metal doors.

  
The hallway was loud and the scents were overwhelming. Stiles had to stop just inside the door from the sheer overwhelming attack of senses. He felt his breathing stop and his heart race and he closed his eyes, willing it all to just go away.

  
A arm slung through his suddenly. Opening his eyes he looked over to see Erica smiling widely at him and giving his forearm a reassuring squeeze.

  
"Don't worry. It gets easier. Just breath through it and try not to pick out individual smells. Let it all blend into a big mass of smell. It helps. And walk, your holding people up." Erica suggested pulling him forward again.

  
Stiles nodded and let her lead him through the halls. He took slow breathes and not pick individual scents out, like she suggested. It was a lot harder than it sounds. Your brain automatically tries to define the scent you are smelling as soon as you smell it. Its a automatic thing, and not so easy to just stop doing.

 

"I cant believe I let you guys talk me into going back to freaking school! Its been like three days since I was turned! This is nuts!" He muttered under his breath.

  
"Relax, Stiles. It's nothing you haven't done a thousand times." Erica chuckled quietly.

  
Stiles grumbled incoherently under his breath and headed to his first class, trying to ignore all the stares from his classmates. Apparently word had spread about his accident and long recovery at the hospital. Luckily the specifics about his hospital and how dire his situation had been was kept quiet.

  
Erica left him at the doorway of his first class with one more reassuring squeeze. Stiles took his seat and settled in for a long day. A really long day.

 

* * *

 

He made it through the day with no incidents, but found himself exhausted. He could barely drag himself up to Derek's loft. They were supposed to train again, but Stiles immediately collapsed on the old couch without even giving Derek a proper hello. He just grunted and lifted a arm slightly.

"How was your first day back?" Derek asked.

Stiles just grunted into the couch cushions in response. He was not even close to in the mood to talk about anything. Its the first time in his life he has been so exhausted he didn't even want to talk.

Instead of pushing or asking more questions, Derek sighed and moved into the kitchen. Stiles listened to the clank and clatter of dishes until he drifted off to sleep.

Derek came back from the kitchen to freeze in place as he caught sight of Stiles draped over the couch. His face was smashed mostly into the cushion and smooshed into weird angles. Derek could tell by Stiles' soft breathing and slowed heart rate that he was fast asleep.

Not surprising since the teenager had come into his apartment looking like he was about a puff of wind away from falling over he was so exhausted. He grumbled incoherently in greeting instead of the usual never ending ramble he usually greeted everyone with.

  
Derek watched Stiles sleep for a few minutes before he started to feel like a creep and made himself look away. Still, he couldn't stop himself from dragging a blanket out of storage and draping it over the boy on his couch before sitting in the desk chair to read quietly.

  
He wasn't sure how long he was out, but he woke up with a start when Derek's phone rang shrilly. A blanket was draped over him that he didn't have before.

  
"Hello." Derek greeted the caller in a grunt. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Scott and his teenage drama today. He was enjoying sitting quietly with Stiles while he slept.  
He watched Stiles sit up and look around confused, eyes landing on the blanket that had pooled at his waist.

  
"Yeah, Scott, he is here. We have been busy." Derek answered rolling his eyes.

  
He hung up the phone soon after that. All Scott really wanted to know is why Stiles wasn't answering his texts and he had answered that, so time to move on.

  
"Feeling better?" Derek asked as Stiles did a full body stretch that made his t-shirt ride up a little to reveal just a peak of his happy trail. Derek looked away quickly before his scent started to give him away.

  
"Why did you let me sleep? We were supposed to train." Stiles asked feeling bad about falling asleep. Derek had set aside time out of his day for this and Stiles wasted it. And worse yet he still felt half asleep. Groggy.

  
"You wont be able to train properly if you are too tired, Stiles. It was better to just let you rest. How was your first day back?" Derek asked to change the subject.

  
Stiles shrugged. "Well no one was maimed. I was at the center of attention all day. But I only lost control of my eyes once when Mr. Harris was yelling at me. Dude is an asshole! I managed to hide it though. Anyways, I call today a win."

  
"See we knew you could do it." Derek replied nodding in approval. He was really hiding the immense pride that was blossoming in his chest. Stiles had so much control and he didn't even realize it. He was doing so well and it had only been just a couple of days.

  
Stiles yawned loudly and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. "Yeah, yeah rub it in." He snipped. He curled back up on the couch facing Derek this time.

  
As much as he hated to admit it, everyone was right. He had made it through the day with only a mild slip up. No one died, and no one was running through the streets yelling 'Werewolf!'

He might get through this.


	11. Full Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles' first full moon.

Stiles grunted as he landed on the cement floor of the loft hard - again. He arched his back and rolled onto his side.

"How the hell am I supposed to learn anything if all you do is keep knocking me on my ass!" He yelled frustrated. He sat up and glared at the werewolf standing above him.

"You are supposed to be coming up with ways that you can take me down." Derek stated in a bored voice.

Stiles stood up. "Then fucking show me how! Because you throwing me to the floor for the last three and a half hours has done nothing!"

Derek took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds before letting it out slowly. "Fine. Come here." He eventually gave in knowing Stiles had a point.

Stiles huffed and moved to stand a foot away from Derek. Derek reached down and grabbed one of his hands, folding his fingers into a fist. Stiles let him, trying his hardest to ignore how much he liked Derek touching him.

"You aren't using all your strength. You need to focus every bit of strength you have into your punch, or it will have no impact." He told the teenager squeezing the fist in his hand before letting it go.

Stiles braced himself, setting his feet and pulling both fists up. "So, like this then?" He asked and he punched Derek in the chest. He was expecting Derek to block his blow or even move out of the way, but Stiles' fist made contact with Derek's chest and sent him flying backwards and hitting the ground.

Stiles gasped and covered his mouth with his hands. "Sorry! Sorry, sorry sorry! I was expecting you to move! I'm so sorry!" He babbled moving to help Derek back to his feet.

"Jesus Christ, Stiles!" Derek wheezed ignoring Stiles' helping hand and climbing back to his feet.

"Good news is I didn't end up on the floor this time." Stiles tried backing away a couple steps. Derek was giving him a murderous glare.

Derek grabbed Stiles by the collar and hooked an ankle around his legs, knocking Stiles flat on his back and landing mostly on top of him, knocking every last ounce of air out of Stiles' lungs.

Noticing how close Derek now was to him was not helping him breath much either. He could feel every curve of Derek body against his. His chest pressing him down into the cement floor with every breath he took.

Before he even registered what he was doing he was pressing his lips against Derek's extremely soft ones. His hands fisted in the sides of Derek's shirt and pulled him forward, harder against him.

Derek barely froze for half a second before he was kissing Stiles back, molding his lips against the teenagers, breathing in his scent, and getting drunk off the taste of him. There was nothing he could think of that was better than this. Nothing.

Then it was over and he was halfway across the room while Stiles scrambled to his feet. He could feel the tips of his ears burning, probably just as red as Stiles currently was.

"I think we are done for today, Stiles." Derek growled through his teeth crossing his arms across his chest.

"Yeah - okay. I'm sorry again - ya know - f - for punching you, I mean. And...I'll see you tomorrow. Yeah." Stiles agreed continuing to back away while grabbing his stuff. He turned and sprinted out the door and down the stairs to his jeep.

Stiles sat behind the wheel of his jeep on the verge of having a panic attack. He could still feel Derek's lips against his own. The warmth of his body pressed solidly against his. It was such a difference from the cold concrete floor that it made Derek feel so much hotter than usual.

Every bone in his body was pushing for him to go back inside and jump Derek's bones. He could barely remember or justify why he was staying away from the person he so desperately wanted.

He felt it before - as a human, he just didnt understand what it was. He didn't feel it as strongly as he does now. As he did as soon as he woke up. The pull he felt towards Derek when he was human felt so weak now. The pull he felt now made it unbearable to be away from Derek for too long.

But at the same time he wasn't mentally ready for any more big changes in his life right now. And this was something he felt like he could control. A change he could decide when he was ready for. Decide when it actually happened. And he felt like this was the only thing in his control right now.

So he forced himself to start up his jeep and pull away from the loft, ignoring the almost painful tug at his heart to turn around.

 

* * *

 

By the time his first full moon rolled around Stiles was only slightly nervous. He truly felt like he had a good control on his wolf instincts. He hadn't had a slip up in days. Not even an unintentional eye flash. He was feeling really good.

Just like every full moon the pack was meeting up at Derek's. But since this was Stiles' first time, Derek decided it was safer to go camping in the preserve instead of their usual night in with pizza and movies. Stiles didn't argue, cautious even if he was confident nothing would happen.

His dad was on shift tonight after all, and it would be extremely awkward if he was called out because someone saw him running around with a rabbit hanging from his teeth and eyes glowing candy apple green. He is not sure his father would ever let him live that down.

So now they were all marching through the preserve to a clearing Derek declared was far enough into the clearing that the chances of them running into a human was almost zero.

Danny, Lydia, and Allison were even joining them, which made Stiles feel slightly better. If Derek or anybody really thought Stiles was going to wolf out, they wouldn't have let the human mates come.

"Seriously, Derek, how much further?" Scott asked after they were walking for 45 minutes. They were moving slowly so the humans could keep up, but even then it seemed to be taking far longer than it should.

"Relax, Scott. Its just up ahead." Derek sighed.

"Are we sure this is the best idea? I mean, you could still lock me up somewhere." Stiles suggested with s shrug. That was what he had expected, to be honest. And he was okay with it as long as it kept people safe.

"You don't need to be locked up. Derek has been working with you for awhile and you have plenty of control. This is just a precaution." Lydia put in. Stiles could hear the roll of her eyes in her voice.

Before Stiles could retort they stepped into a large clearing, complete with a waterfall and a small pond at the bottom of it. The river ran off into the other side of the woods and out of view.

"Wow!" Stiles breathed letting his bag fall to the ground.

"Ethan, Boyd, Scott, Erica, gather some firewood. We need enough for the entire night. Aiden, Stiles, Allison, Danny, find some logs or rocks for us to sit on around the fire. Everyone else, start pitching the tents" Derek started giving out jobs as soon as everyone had dropped their bags.

"Aye, Aye, Cap'n!" Stiles mock saluted before moving to look for a fallen tree thick enough to make a good bench.  He missed Derek's fond eye roll and amused smile.

In the end they had a nice, big fire going with a couple fallen trees and large rocks for seats around it and three perfectly pitched tents.

The tents ended up taking everyone's help with Lydia standing aside and giving out orders while holding the directions out in front of her.

It also needed a lot of cursing and growls and snapped words, but it was worth it. The girls got one tent, Ethan, Danny, Aiden, and Boyd had the second tent and Derek, Stiles, Issac, and Scott had the last tent.

"Anyone hungry? I brought hot dogs." Scott asked brandishing four large packs of hot dogs in the air. There was a couple of whoops and multiple hands snatched the packages from Scott.

They all chatted and ate happily as the sun set and the moon rose in the sky. As the buzzing in his body became less ignorable, Stiles started fidgeting in nervousness, knee bouncing in front of him.

Derek sat beside him and placed a hand on the nape of his neck. The touch instantly calmed Stiles, letting him slump slightly and push into Derek's hand. "Relax, Stiles, you are doing fine. We are all right here, there is nothing to worry about." Derek said quietly leaning in so no one else could hear him.

"I know that, but my brain keeps going through all the awful things that could happen." Stiles whispered closing his eyes and focusing only on Derek right next to him.

"I will never let anything like that happen. I did this to you and the least I can do is make sure you don't hurt anyone. And I promise you - I promise - I will never let you hurt anyone." Derek assured him tightening his hold on Stiles' neck slightly.

Stiles nodded and took a deep calming breath. He would trust his Alpha. He would trust Derek. He would trust him with his life.

Derek kept his hand on Stiles' neck for a few more minutes, until Stiles was completely calm. And he stayed close by for the rest of the night. Stiles was grateful he did. His presence was calming and the urge to be near Derek - to touch Derek - was strong tonight.

At one point he felt his eyes glow and his claws made their way out without permission, but Stiles was in control otherwise. And he wasn't the only one either. Erica and Issac both sported pointy finger nails and glowing eyes.

"Dude, the eyes are still so weird! Amazing. But weird," Scott said when he noticed.

"I agree with Scott for once. It is odd." Erica said coming closer to see them better. Stiles leaned away from her intense inspection unconsciously, which made him lean against Derek slightly, but Derek didn't seem to mind.

"You are a strange creature, Stiles."  Ethan says.

"Oh gee, thanks so much!"  Stiles replies sarcastically.

"No, seriously though.  Even before you were changed, you were odd.  You took werewolves existing like it was nothing, even helping Scott through his first couple full moons.  Not many humans would do that.  Not many would still be sane."  Aiden adds.

"Its true.  When I first found out it took me a full week to even convince myself it wasn't all my imagination.  And I figured it out on my own, I wasn't thrown into it like you were."  Danny agrees.

"I hunted a bunch of you down."  Allison pipes up toasting the air with her can of pop.

"And I heavily medicated myself for a month and pretended like what I saw was a mountain lion."  Lydia said with a shrug.

Stiles chuckled quietly remembering.  "But now you are a banshee, and Danny and you are mated to wolves.  And I'm a werewolf.  And Allison is mated to a werewolf and a hunter in a pack.  What is our life?"

The group laughed loudly with large smiles on their faces.

"Better.  Its harder, and stranger, but our lives are better."  Issac states looking at the orange flames of the fire.

"Yeah."  Stiles couldn't help but agree.  There were quiet murmurs from all around the circle, including one from Derek.  Stiles felt content and warm.  The kind of warmth you only felt when you were surrounded by family.  And he was.  This strange pack with its wolves, banshee, humans, and a hunter were his family.

It was early morning before they went to sleep. The wolves all felt too amped up from the full moon to even consider sleeping, even the humans seemed a little hyped up.  
But eventually, sleep called to them and Stiles ended up laying next to Derek in their tent, curled up in his sleeping bag, claw free and eyes back to their honey brown. A weight he hadn't known he was carrying lifted from his chest as he drifted off.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. I know it's kind of slow right now, just hold on with me, I promise we will start getting to some good stuff soon. I'm thinking maybe next chapter or the one after. It will be worth the wait!


	12. The Body

After his first full moon passed without incident, Stiles fell into his new life fairly easily. Everything was starting to calm down. No one even stared at him much anymore.

Every Wednesday night was training night with Derek and every Thursday night was the pack meeting. Other than that he spent as much time as he could with his dad and even Scott when he wasn't with Allison. 

Things didn't start to get interesting until a mechanic showed up in the morgue covered in bright orange boils and a stomach stuffed full of wolfsbane. It was this second thing that had his dad calling in Derek - and Stiles, but only because he was listening in on the phone call. Listening in on his fathers calls was so much easier now. He could be up in his room and hear the tinny voice of whoever was on the other end of the phone like they were in the same room.

"Dad, I need to be there. Who is going to tell the rest of the pack all the little details Derek doesn't think are important - or keep him from taking this on all himself in order to keep us safe?" Stiles argued with his father. His dad had a hand over his eyes in exasperation.

"If he is keeping things from you to keep you safe, then I am all for it! He is the Alpha, Stiles. Your alpha." His dad pointed out.

"He only thinks its going to keep us safe! He is a martyr! Dad you know that if there are any big bads in town they are going to find us. No one is safe!" He argued closing the door to his fathers cruiser.

His dad stared at him for a solid minute before sighing deeply and starting the car. He pulled out of the driveway and started toward the hospital. "I cannot believe this is what my life has come to. Trusting a bunch of werewolves to help solve a murder in my own back yard." His dad mumbled under his breath.

Stiles chuckled quietly and played with the radio, finding a station that was actually playing music. Everything was just talk shows and commercials now, honestly, how did anyone ever listen to the radio.

Derek was waiting in the hospital parking lot for them, leaning against his black camaro with his trademark I - will - kill - you - if - you - so - much - as - breath - in - my - direction scowl. But Stiles knew him well enough now to know that that scowl just meant he was worried.

"What are you doing here, Stiles?" Derek growled as he climbed out of the cruiser.

"Gee, Derek, its so nice to see you too! Why, yes, I did have a wonderful day, thank you for asking!" Stiles said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Derek took a slow deep breath and let it out. "Hello, Stiles. What are you doing here?" He corrected himself just short of growling.

Stiles smiled at him. "I overheard my dad and you on the phone and decided to come along. Someone has to make sure you don't go off on your own and get yourself killed." He answered

"Go home." Derek ordered crossing his arms over his chest.

Stiles chuckled and made no move to leave. "Yeah, I already tried that. I think being turned into a werewolf made him more stubborn." The sheriff sighed.

Derek stared Stiles down for a few seconds more before giving up with a groan. He turned to head inside the hospital, Stiles and his dad following closely behind. They met Melissa just outside of the morgue, where she was writing stuff onto a clipboard.

She did a double take when she saw them. "Stiles! Is Scott here too?" She asked looking behind them as if her son was just running a little behind the rest of the group.

"Everyone is very shocked to see me here. Have any of you met me before?" Stiles asked waving his arms in the air and almost hitting both his dad and Derek at the same time.  
Melissa just stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. "The body, Mels?" The Sheriff prompted gently after a few awkward moments.

Melissa seemed to snap back into focus glad for the change of subject. "Yes. He came in this morning. A customer found him when they came to pick up their car. He was covered in the boils so we did an immediate autopsy. That's when the coroner found the wolfsbane. He was literally stuffed full of it. He was stuffed so full of it it actually ruptured his stomach and spilled out." She said while walking into the morgue.

She stopped outside a window where the body lay on a metal table. It was covered with a sheet.

"This is the observation room. Since there is wolfsbane, you boys cant go in. But the room is equipped with a communication system, so we can talk back and forth." She explained. She and the sheriff quickly entered the room, but it still let out a strong whiff of wolfsbane that had Stiles and Derek coughing and their eyes glowing for a few seconds until the smell cleared out.

Melissa uncovered the body to the waist. Stiles couldn't help the disgusted face he made. Some of the orange boils had been cut open during the autopsy letting the puss inside spill out. The body had not been sewed back shut, due to the wolfsbane inside.

"Okay. They left the body open for the police to investigate. The boils are like nothing they have ever seen before, but they determined they are not catchy or dangerous." Melissa confirmed for them.

The sheriff circled the body slowly, looking at it from all angles. "Boys, I don't know if you got a whiff of anything besides the wolfsbane, but let me tell you it is something awful. The puss coming from the boils smell like nothing i have ever smelled before. And its milky." The sheriff explained for him.

"Can one of you bring me a handful of the flowers from his gut?" Derek asked stepping closer to the window to get a better view.

The sherriff made a disgusted noise in his throat, but Melissa grabbed a pair of rubber gloves and slipped them on, digging right into the gut of the dead mechanic.

"Oh god!" Stiles gagged as she scooped out a double handful of gut, blood, and wolfsbane. She dumped the handful into a metal tray and brought it over to the window.

Stiles moved closer to Derek to look into the tray as well, trying to ignore the bile rising in his throat and the overwhelming feeling of needing to vomit. Derek glared at the contents.

"What is that? There is something on the petals of the flowers." He asked.

Melissa grabbed one of the flowers and a lighted magnifying glass from the desk near the window. She held it under the magnifying glass for them to see. It was a spiral of circles, each circle was partially, fully, or not colored in at all. The one that was all colored in had a slash through it. It reminded Stiles of something, but he couldn't place it.

Derek seemed to realize what it was though. He froze in place and growled lowly in his chest. He shifted just slightly closer to Stiles.

"What is it, Der?" Stiles asked in a whisper. He wasn't sure why he was whispering, only that it felt like the right thing to do.

"Its called the Lunar spiral. Its all the phases of the moon. The full moon is crossed out, and its on a wolfbane petal, so we know what they are after." Derek whispered back.

"Don't tell me." The Sheriff sighed.

"It's after werewolves." Derek confirmed.

"And what is 'it'?" Melissa asked in the practiced calm voice only ER nurses learn.

"A witch." Derek answered breathlessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To see the symbol on the flower Google Witch Lunar Spiral.


	13. Study Sessions

The revelation that a witch was in town attacking and sacrificing people in order to gear up for some kind of attack on werewolves meant 72 full hours of research for Stiles. After the first 36 his dad kicked him out, telling him to go to Derek's loft.

Stiles knew it was because he was hoping Derek could talk Stiles into taking a break, since he couldn't. He had been trying on and off for a while, but the pack needed as much information about this new threat as possible. And this is what Stiles is good at. Sifting through pages and pages of useless information to find the few tidbits they needed. To find information for the pack to use to defeat this new bad and keep everyone safe.

Derek slid open the door before he even made it to the top of the stairs. "Your dad called." He said simply taking one of the many bags of books Stiles was carrying.

Stiles shifted the remaining bags before making his way into the loft. "Yeah, he suggested I come over. Or rather shoved me out the door and told me to come over." Stiles shrugged letting the bags fall to the floor by the coffee table. He dug his laptop out and set it up on the table with the books he was in the middle of reading set up around it.

Derek disappeared into the kitchen while Stiles grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and set it on the floor. He settled himself onto the pillow and opened up the laptop. He immersed himself back into the information without another word.

Derek listened to Stiles mumble to himself as he set about making dinner. When John had called he mentioned that Stiles hadn't eaten in awhile. He couldn't even tell Derek if Stiles had showered, though as soon as he got a whiff of Stiles he could answer that one for himself.

While he was annoyed that Stiles wasn't taking care of himself, his chest was warm with the thought that he could care for his mate like this. Feed him and make sure he was bathing regularly. He could take care of Stiles.

He made spaghetti. Fast, simple, and incredibly filling. He piled some onto a plate and grabbed a glass of milk. He shifted some books aside to set the dishes down before settling next to Stiles. Stiles didn't even seem to notice him until he went to grab the book the plate of spaghetti now replaced. Derek grabbed his wrist gently before he could actually stick his hand into the saucy noodles.

"Oh!. Hey Derek. Did you make this for me?" Stiles asked seeming to come back to the here and now.

Derek nodded. "Eat, then you are going to take a shower. You smell the the backside of a donkey." He urged shutting the laptop.

Stiles sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. "You are worse than my dad." He said but he picked up the fork and started eating anyways. As soon as the first bite hit his tongue it was like he realized how hungry it was. Stiles started shoveling the spaghetti into his mouth, barely chewing before he swallowed and shoved another forkful into his mouth. Derek warmed with happiness.

"Oh my god, you should open your own Italian restaurant. This spaghetti is the shit!" Stiles moaned as he finished off the last of the pasta. The entire plate had disappeared in less than five minutes. Derek was torn between being pleased and being absolutely disgusted.

Clearing his throat against the praise, he stood up. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, now get up, I wasn't kidding about the shower." He said pulling Stiles to his feet.

Stiles groaned and looked forlornly at the research scattering Derek's coffee table. "But...Impending death and destruction!" He whined pointing at his laptop.

"Impending death and destruction will still be here after you take a nice, long, warm shower." Derek coddled while shoving Stiles towards the bathroom. Stiles dragged his feet and mumbled mockingly until Derek finally slammed the bathroom door shut.

Derek busied himself with cleaning up his mess from making food. In his need to get food into Stiles he had made quite a mess. Then he moved on to tidy up the living room, careful not to disturb anything of Stiles'. Then he even went to far as to make his bed.

It wasn't until the bathroom door opened and Stiles came out with just a towel wrapped loosely around his waist that he realized that he had forgotten Stiles had no clean clothes to change into when he had shoved him into the bathroom.

"Did you see if I brought a bag of clothes? I'm not sure if my dad thought to pack any for me as he was shoving me out the front door." He asked looking around at all the bags he had brought with him until he found a backpack with a couple sets of clothes shoved in it.

Derek's mouth went dry as Stiles crouched down to rummage through the bag, the towel slipping further down his back to reveal just the top of his round cheeks. It was a conscious effort to stay rooted to his spot and not go over and shove Stiles into the wall and shove his tongue down Stiles' throat.

"Aha! Found 'em!" Stiles said standing up and holding a pile of clothes in triumph. Derek suddenly hated John for sending Stiles over to him. Derek watched Stiles until the bathroom door was shut and his view of the pale mole dotted skin was obscured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I guess I do this backwards. I write as I go meaning what I post is what I have. I've noticed most everyone else writes everything and then posts it one chapter at a time.
> 
> So you know, that may explain some things.
> 
> Not changing the way I write now, sorry not sorry *shrugs*
> 
> Still hope you are liking this story though!


	14. Naps

"Lydia will be here in a couple hours with the ingredients from Deaton. We should have some defenses up and running soon." Stiles said hanging up his phone and turning to Derek. He was still at the loft.

Derek was currently sitting on the couch with one of the tomes Stiles had brought propped open on his lap. He had been helping Stiles find information on the witch in town. He had also been making sure Stiles ate and drank and bathed regularly, which made Stiles' stomach do this weird flipping thing that he was kind of addicted to.

"Good, that gives you plenty of time to catch up on some sleep." Derek said shutting the book with a slapping sound.

He stood up and stretched. Stiles' eyes caught on the small strip of skin that was revealed as Derek arched his back. Stiles was dying to touch that strip of skin and feel just how soft and warm it would be under the palms of his hands.

Derek held out his hand to Stiles to help him up off the floor and suddenly Stiles wasn't sure he would be able to stand up. The exhaustion hit him like a asteroid traveling at mass velocity.

Derek must have seen it on Stiles' face because he dropped his hand in favor of bending down and wrapping his arms under Stiles' and hoisting him up. Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's neck and dropped his head onto his shoulder.

"Dude, I am so tired!" He moaned already half asleep.

"Shh, I know. Just sleep." Derek cooed patting Stiles back gently.

Stiles felt himself be set onto a soft mattress. Stiles snuggled into the pillow that smelled strongly of Derek and hummed while Derek pulled the blanket from under him and covered him up.  
  
As Derek pulled away Stiles caught his wrist, eyes still closed. He didn't want Derek to leave. Later he would blame it on his brains lack of sleep, but right now he just wanted Derek to lay next to him. He wanted to feel Derek's warmth.

"Stay. Please." Stiles mumbled.

He was awake long enough to hear Derek's resigned sigh and feel the bed dip behind him while Derek pulled Stiles closer to him, but was out before Derek had gotten comfortable and settled in.

Stiles was deeply asleep when Derek heard the soft purr of Lydia's car pull up and a minute later, the sound of her heels clacking up the metal stairs to his loft. Aiden, as usual, was with her, muttering softly about the smelly contents of the bags he was carrying.

Derek got up to let them in, wanting Stiles to stay asleep for as long as possible. He slid open the loft door just as Lydia got to it. "Stiles is sleeping." He said by explanation to her raised brow.

Lydia nodded. "We will be quick and quiet then." She said gliding past Derek and setting the bag she was carrying on the kitchen table.

"Is all this just for the loft?" Derek asked glaring at Lydia when she smacked his hand away from a bag he was trying to peek into.

"No. This is for all the houses. We can only put some things around werewolf residences. Some of this stuff will mess with your senses too much. But first we will start with warding sygils in the north, west, east, and south corners of the loft on all floors." She said with a sigh. She pulled a large paint brush and a jar of some black liquid out of one of the bags, slipped her high heels off and headed out of the kitchen on silent feet. Derek was grateful she thought to take her shoes off so she wouldn't wake Stiles up.

Aiden and Derek stayed in the kitchen in silence for a few minutes, Derek listening to Stiles' sleep slow heartbeat. "How is he doing?" Aiden asked eventually shifting from one foot to the other and looking at the floor like he was embarrassed he was asking such a question. Aiden would never admit it, but he like everyone in the pack, he liked feeling like he was a part of something, like he truly belonged. Him and his brother both.

"He is still Stiles. Stubborn, talkative, annoying as shit Stiles." Derek answered.

Aiden hummed and gave Derek a knowing smirk. Derek just rolled his eyes and went to find Lydia to see if she needed any help.

 

* * *

 

Stiles rolled over and stretched, surrounded by Derek's scent. It was a calming scent. Something that Stiles found he was actively seeking now that he could actually, truly, smell it. It was so much different than what he remembered Derek's smell to be as a human. So much better.

He could hear Derek's breathing and heartbeat nearby, slow and steady. Awake, but relaxed and calm. "When is Lydia getting here?" Stiles grumbled out without opening his eyes.

"About five hours ago. She came and went and you slept through it all." Derek replied sounding bored.

Stiles bolted upright in bed, whipping around to glare at Derek. "And you didn't wake me up?" He accused.

"Nope. You needed the sleep." Derek said apologetically. He flipped a page in the book he was reading.

Stiles groaned and untangled his legs from the blankets. "Well, what happened?" He asked glaring.

Derek sighed and set the book aside. "She came, drew some mumbo jumbo crap all over my walls, rubbed some smelly paste on my doorways and around my windows and left. She went around and did all the houses with Aiden helping." He explained.

Stiles automatically looked around, finally noticing the sygils painted on the walls and the pungent sour garbage scent of the stuff smeared on the door frames and window frames. "Oh." Was all he could muster.

Stiles slid from the bed, flinching when his bare feet touched the cold cement floor. It took him a few good minutes and a few false attempts at touching the floor again before he skittered quickly across the room and practically jumped onto the couch next to Derek, accidentally kneeing the older wolf in the thigh.

Derek growled lowly and closed his eyes. "Sorry. The floor is cold." He mumbled curling his toes under Derek's thigh to warm them back up.

Derek rolled his eyes at Stiles and turned back to his book. Stiles scooted closer to see what he was reading, snorting when he saw it was a pirate romance novel.

"You are a 35 year old cat lady!" He said trying not to laugh hysterically.

"I have my guilty pleasures just like anyone!" Derek defended himself blushing a bright red all the way down to the collar of his black t-shirt.

Stiles gaped like a fish at the sight. He had never seen Derek blush and look so flustered and embarrassed before. And he had to admit, he absolutely loved it. It was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. He wanted to squeal like a fangirl. 

Instead he leaned back against the arm of the couch and didn't say a word. Silently committing the picture of a blushing, embarrassed Derek to memory.  
He had no plans on moving from this spot any time soon, perfectly content.


	15. The Waiting Game

Something about having possible imminent danger at any moment makes people think. Makes feeling emerge to the surface. And once those feelings surface, its nearly impossible to ignore them.

At least it was for Stiles' ADHD brain. Being a werewolf didn't change his constantly racing thoughts and lack of brain to mouth filter. And ever since he slept in Derek's bed a week ago.

He hadn't slept as well or as deeply as he did in that bed with those arms around him and that heat against him in a really long time. Such a long time that Stiles couldn't even tell you when it was.

And all of a sudden his own bed, that he had slept in since he was a kid, was too empty, too cold - too lonely. He was having trouble sleeping and as a result he had a lot of time to think. Which meant he was thinking about Derek.

His thoughts bounced from the long nap in Derek's bed to the unexpected kiss they shared during training before that. He had resolutely avoided thinking about the kiss as much as he could, because when he did he got himself all flustered and his heart raced.

His phone blipped with a new message. And he rolled over in his bed slid the phone into the cocoon of warmth he was currently in. It was Scott checking in.

After the second body turned up Isaac noticed a scent following him and even surrounding the school. So they came to the conclusion that the witch was actually after them. So they set up a sort of system. Every two hours during the day you needed to text someone and make sure they are okay. After ten at night they had a check in time of 2 a. m. If they dont answer in 15 minutes they get a phone call, if they don't answer the phone it is assumed that the witch got to them and the pack was to meet up at Derek's loft.

Scott had him, he had Derek. Derek had Isaac, Isaac had Alison, and on and on until everyone had checked in. It was often annoying and the pressure not to miss a message or call was intense.

Stiles sent his reply, and moved on to check in with Derek. He sent him a selfie, trying to get creative with this whole check in thing. The selfie was horrible. it was dark in his room so the screen only lit up his face and it made the bags under his eyes even more evident, but he was too lazy to take another one with better lighting.

The reply only took a minute. It was a picture of Derek with bed head and lines on his face from sleep. Stiles thought the picture was adorable. The most freaking adorable thing he had seen since that day when he saw Derek blush and embarrassed.

If he happened to save the picture to his phone and set it as Derek's contact picture, well that was his business.

With a sigh Stiles untangled himself from his blanket cocoon and crawled out of bed. Lydia was coming over in a hour to do some research. Now that they had protection against the witch, they wanted to find the witch and stop them from hurting or killing anyone else. Two is already two too many people dead.  So he needed to get into the shower and grab something to eat before she got here.

Stiles had just stepped out of the shower when he heard a knock on the front door. Lydia was early. Swearing under his breath he struggled into the nearest pair of clean jeans and ran down the stairs.

"Hey, Lyds, you're early. Co-" Stiles froze when he opened the door and realized that it was not in fact Lydia on the other side like he had thought.

This woman had blonde curly hair, a slight frame, and eyes a unnatural pale yellow. She almost looked like one of those white eyed blind people you see in movies sometimes. Her hair was light brown and tangled. Stiles could see dirt and twigs tangled in with the knots and it looked greasy, like it hadn't been washed in months.

And from what Stiles' new werewolf nose picked up it was quite possible she hadn't showered in months. He instinctively took half a step back and started to breath through his mouth, anything to avoid the smell.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else. What can I help you with ma'am?" Stiles asked his manners kicking in without thought.

The woman smiled, revealing blackened rotted teeth with red smudges on her lips that looked suspiciously like blood. Instead of answering she lifted a hand out of her ratty pant pocket and opened it in front of her, palm up. Stiles only had enough time to register the pale purple powder before a unnatural wind blew it into his face. He felt his eyes roll up into his head and he suddenly felt very light. Like he was floating, or falling. Then nothing but blackness.

 

* * *

 

As soon as he was awake Derek bolted upright and took in his surroundings. It was dark and damp and small. As his eyes adjusted he could see that the walls, ceiling, even the floor, was made of dirt. Freshly disturbed dirt. Roots and leaves and twigs littered the place. He could stand up to full height and not touch the ceiling. The very tips of his fingers were still at least a foot from the ceiling.

The room was just long enough for him to lay down in, but his feet and head brushed both walls. But the room was not wide at all. He couldn't even stretch out both arms, and there was no door he could find at all. he had no idea how the dirt wasn't caving in on him, or how he got in here to begin with. He briefly wondered how much air he would have before he suffocated.

"Hey! Anyone there?" Derek shouted hoarsely. whatever he was attacked with that made him pass out was still affecting him. He felt weak and tired.

When there was no answer he tried howling. It wasn't as strong as his usual howl, but he hoped he was close enough to one of the others that they would hear him.

This time there was an answer. The dirt on the ceiling lifted away revealing the night sky though some kind of force field. It was a shimmery blue and made what trees he could see look like they were under water. The force field made the hair on Derek's arms stand on end. A woman walked up to the hole and looked down at him with a sickly sweet smile.

"Don't get impatient, I will soon be ready for you, Alpha." The woman sneered saying Alpha in a way that made Derek positive she was poking fun at him.

Derek ignored the obvious jab. "What do you want with me?" He growled.

"Tsk, tsk. You will find out soon enough." The smile the woman sent Derek's way was anything but friendly. Derek resisted the shiver that wanted to run up his spine.

Then the earth covered the top of the hole Derek was in and he was left alone again.


	16. Prisons

Derek wasn't in the hole for more than a few minutes by himself before it opened up again. He glared up at the woman. There was a lump at the edge of the hole at her feet.

The woman kicked at the lump in front of her and pushed it into the hole. Derek instinctively dodged out of the way of the falling mass. It landed and Derek could now tell it was a body. It was a topless and slightly damp Stiles to be exact.

Growling lowly he moves to roll Stiles onto his back. Stiles' eyelids are closed but he can see his eyes moving rapidly behind them. Derek had to focus a little harder than usual to pinpoint the erratic heartbeat of his mate, but that was only because of the drug still left in his system. The heartbeat itself was strong.

The woman disappears again but this time the hole is not covered back up. Derek pulls Stiles onto his lap and tried to focus his hearing on tracking the woman above them.

He could hear her start a large fire and fan it bigger for a few minutes before she paces back and forth mumbling words. He could hear the crackling of flames as things were tossed into the fire.

When Stiles jerked up straight with a shout Derek jumped. "Jesus, Stiles!" He snapped.

"Derek? Were are we? Whats going on? there was a woman." Stiles started babbling looking around the small hole they were both in.

"She is above us. I can't tell what she is doing. Whatever she did to me is still messing with my senses." Derek answered Stiles as he watched the younger man pace the edges of the hole.

"She got me with some kind of purple powder. Probably some kind of wolfsbane. She must have known our check in schedule, or she just got really freaking lucky." Stiles told him while looking up at the force field.

Derek subtly tried to look Stiles over. There were dirt streaks and smudges on his skin, but he couldn't see any injuries. And his heartbeat was faster in slight panic and fear at their current situation, but it sounded just as healthy as ever.

He must not have been as subtle as he thought because Stiles suddenly gives him a knowing look. "I'm fine. She didn't hurt me, just knocked me out." He confirmed.

Derek blushed at being caught and looked away before Stiles could see the red in his cheeks. He heard stiles chuckle quietly, but he didn't make another comment.

There was a couple minutes of silence where Stiles' breathing and heartbeat continued to get faster and faster as he paced to one end of the hole to the other. He fiddled with his fingers in front of him and worried his bottom lip as he walked, making Derek itch to comfort his mate.

Finally Derek snapped and pulled Stiles down to the floor where he was sitting. Stiles yelped and protested as Derek manhandled him to sit in between his legs and wrapped his arms around him tight, effectively wrapping himself tightly around Stiles' body. He even went as far as to bury his face into his shoulder.

Stiles tried to squirm for a few seconds. "Derek? What are you doing?" Stiles asks even as his body starts to relax and melt into Derek. Derek rumbled in approval, but didn't answer the question.

Stiles sighed and let his head fall back onto Derek's shoulder and turned his face slightly into Derek's hair, unconsciously taking in his scent.

"We need to get the hell out of here. I did not survive everything we have survived to die by a witches freaking hand." Stiles whispered some time later. Derek just nodded without lifting his face from Stiles' shoulder.

They sat in silence and listened to the witch do her thing above them. Derek could feel the gears and wheels in Stiles' head turning and grinding, trying to find a way out of their situation.

"Lydia was supposed to be over. She will know something is wrong when she shows up and I'm not there." He stated quietly. He was playing with Derek's fingers on his chest absently.

"I don't know where we are. They probably wont find us in time." Derek mumbled.

"Your pessimism is so helpful." Stiles huffed. Derek could literally hear his eyes rolling.

"I like to keep things real." Derek shrugged feeling a small smile tug on his lips.

When the witch showed herself to them Stiles could feel his body unconsciously tense up. Neither he nor Derek, who had finally lifted his head from his shoulder, moved to break apart or get up.

The witch sneered down at them. "Glad to see my guests of honor are comfortable. It will go so much easier if you don't fight." She informed them.

"What do you want with us?" Stiles asked.

"For now I want you to come up here and join me. Keep in mind that even if you try and run, i have surrounded us in mountain ash, so you wont get far. I'll take the Alpha first." The woman ordered pointing a malformed finger at Derek.

Derek hesitated and didn't make a move. Stiles even tightened his grip on Derek's fingers. The witches face twisted in impatience and anger. "NOW!" She snapped in rough shout. Stiles jumped, but Derek managed to keep himself from jumping.

Derek's arms around Stiles tightened momentarily before he stood up. Stiles kept a grip on his hand and looked up at him. Fear ripped though him and he didn't want to let go. He didn't want Derek to go up there with the witch. He couldn't stand the thought of Derek going up there where he couldn't even see him. Couldn't see what was happening to him.

The feeling he had been feeling the last few days hit him again. And all of a sudden he didn't want to wait anymore. He didn't want to hold back. Stiles scrambled to his feet and gripped the back of Derek's neck.

"I'll see you soon." He whispered fiercely. Then he crushed his lips to Derek's roughly, desperately.

Shocked, Derek didn't respond for almost a full second before he responded, kissing him back. He placed the hand Stiles was not gripping tightly on Stiles' hip, pulling him against himself and letting out a quiet moan.

The witch made a impatient noise behind them and Derek pulled away. The witch let down a rope ladder and glared Stiles down, making sure he didnt make a move towards the ladder. Stiles stayed put, watching Derek climb the ladder and out of sight, the force field opened up just enough for him to get through before snapping back into place with a sound that made Stiles ears pop.

The with grabbed Derek's arm to lead him away roughly. Derek glanced once more at Stiles before he disappeared out of sight. Stiles whined softly and immediately started pacing the hole prison again, ears honed in on Derek's every movement, every breath, every sound, every heartbeat.


	17. Chants & Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what the witch wants with Stiles and Derek, and how she plans on getting it.

The witch leads Derek near a fire with flames that were taller than he was. The flames were a strange blueish green color. There were purple wolfsbane petals scattered around the fire.

"Kneel here." The witch ordered, pointing to a spot right next to the fire, close enough that he could feel the hairs on his arm singe in the heat.

Derek took a deep nervous breath, feeling a wave of ice run form his chest to his stomach and settle there. He kneeled in front of the witch, arms hanging limply at his sides. He flinched slightly when the witch suddenly bent over, but she was only picking up a bowl of blood red liquid.

He leaned away from the woman when she stuck two fingers in the bowl and lifted the blood red liquid to his forehead. Her eyes glazed over and she started mumbling words Derek didn't understand. While she chanted the drew lines and symbols all the way from Derek's forehead to the waistline of his pants.

Lines swirled around his pecs and biceps, down his abs and over his collar bones, then she drew a thick band down his spine. She made multiple lines on his forehead, cheeks, and chin before moving on to the symbols. Parts of the same Lunar Spiral that was on the wolfsbane flower petals were drawn in the open spaces on his pecs, back of both hands, each side of the stomach, and on both shoulder blades.

Whatever the liquid was itched as it dried and Derek resisted the urge to scratch at it. When the witch was done drawing and chanting she set the bowl aside. "Stay here." The witch ordered flicking his nose. Derek growled but stayed put. He followed the witches movements as she walked back over to the hole.

When Stiles climbed from the hole his eyes immediately searched out Derek, and something in Derek unfurled when their eyes finally locked. Stiles' face morphed into relief as the woman led him over towards Derek, but she turned off just feet from him and directed Stiles to kneel inside a circle of thick braided rope with what looked like vines weaved around the braid.

Stiles hesitates but kneels where she told him too. Derek listened to his heart rate and breathing climb to dangerous levels as the witch proceeded to draw the same lines and symbols she drew on Derek, with one major difference. The last thing she did was place her entire hand into the bowl and grip tightly around Stiles' neck.

Stiles's breathing shuddered and stopped as he shut his eyes and became stiff as a board. The womans grip tightened slowly until Stiles finally gripped at her wrists with both hands in a pleading attempt for air. He peeled her fingers from his neck, eyes candy apple green when he opened them wide again. Derek shifted to get up and help him, but the woman flung her free arm out to stop him from moving. He settled back on his knees with a growl when Stiles finally removed her hand and could breath again.

Stiles coughed and took deep breaths as the woman left him to return back to her fire, chanting different words than before and tossing various things into the fire. From what Derek could see it was varied from plants to bones to freshly dead animals.

"What do you want from us?" Derek asked again as she stuck a long stick into the middle of the fire. He could sense the mountain ash around him and knew that running would not be possible. It irritated and itched at his skin just sitting here and letting her do whatever she wanted.

The woman turned to him, eyes glowing unnaturally in the light of the fire. "I want you to die. And your mate will be my weapon." She replied with a smirk.

"What does that mean? I'm no ones weapon." Stiles snapped.

The witch laughed, high and loud. She removed the stick from the fire, end blackened. She broke the end off into a clean bowl and ground it up into a fine powder. She pressed her thumb inside. She approached Stiles and rubbed her thumb across his forehead, leaving a black smear behind.

"Oh you will be." She smiled evilly and started chanting again, this time in a deep voice. Derek could see her eyes cloud over as she kept going. She gripped his head in one hand, her thumb on one temple and her middle finger on the other.

Derek could feel his limbs being locked in place. He couldn't even raise his arms, and he struggled. Stiles was grasping at the womans clothes, eyes blown wide with fear. He was struggling to get away from the woman, to stop whatever it was she was doing.

As soon as the woman started her chanting Stiles could feel his body go limp without his permission. He had to struggle to even grab at the womans waist to try and drag her off him, but it was having no effect on her and his body started to grow hot. Fever hot like he had never felt before, it was painful.

"S-Stop! Stop it! Please! Derek! Oh my god!" Stiles couldn't stop the terror filled sob that escaped his chest. He felt his consciousness be pushed around. He could actually feel himself start to no longer have control of his body. He fought it with everything he had, he couldn't let this witch use him to kill Derek. He wouldn't let her.

Stiles could hear Derek growling and struggling not far from him. "Derek, please-!" Stiles gasped. He wanted to tell him to run, to get as far away from him as possible so he couldn't hurt him, but he couldn't get the words from his brain to his mouth. The one thing he always had was his voice, his words. He could talk for hours, it got him through every shit time in his life. Talking was such a huge part of him. And it was just taken away from him.

Abruptly the witch stopped her chant and let go of Stiles with a gasp. Stiles felt his eyes roll back in to his head and he fell to the side, body shaking in a seizure. He vaguely registered Derek howling and snarling in between calling his name.

Then everything stopped. Not even the fire crackled, it was completely silent. No one moved, Stiles' body had stopped seizing and Derek had stopped fighting to get up.

Stiles felt the force still trying to control his body. He still fought it. He could feel the urge to attack and kill Derek, the urge that was not his own. The feeling of rage that was boiling under his skin, and vibrate through his limbs.

"Kill him. Kill your mate." The witch ordered in a whisper. Stiles snapped around to look at her, feeling the urge thrum through him stronger now. He stood up and took a step toward Derek unconsciously.

He almost wanted to give in to it, just to feel the satisfaction that killing Derek promised him. He looked over and met Derek's eyes and the feeling lessened. He knew he wouldn't kill Derek. No one and nothing could make him. Not even magic.

Derek seemed to see something in his eyes because Stiles could see him relax. Then another howl cut through the air, right outside the circle of mountain ash. The rest of the pack - sans the humans and the banshee, who will probably running a few minutes behind the werewolves - shifted into their beta shifts and growling.

"Let Stiles go!" Scott ordered loudly. He stood as close to the line as possible, but he wasn't able to cross it.

The witch laughed. "Oh, child, it is far too late for that. I will have the power of the Alpha and the power of a mate bond. The strongest and purest bond there can be! The power will be mine, mine!" The witch cackled. Stiles felt the force surge through him again, but this time it was easier to resist.

When Stiles stumbles forward again Derek shifts a little. Stiles had a plan, and he hoped Derek could catch on quick because this is their only chance. If the witch tries to do whatever she did to control him again, Stiles isn't sure he could resist it again.

Stiles could hear the others yelling at him, telling him to stop. To fight it. And Stiles wanted to give them a sign, somehow tell them that he was in control of himself, that Derek was safe, but he couldn't risk the witch seeing it. Figuring out that she didn't have control over him.

When he makes it to Derek, he braces himself for what he is about to do and promises himself to apologize profusely later.

He growls lowly, letting his eyes flash and grabbing a fistful of Derek's hair tight in his fist, jerking him forward. Derek gasped one hand flying up to grip the wrist of the hand in his hair, the other grasping at his thigh.

"Its okay, Stiles. Its okay." Derek said to him softly.

Stiles jerked on Dereks hair again, making the older man scramble to his feet and stand at an awkward angle. He was gasping and Stiles could smell the fear roll off Derek and he could hear his heartbeat speed up dramatically.

Stiles looked up as the woman approached them, a smirk on her lips. Stiles pulled Derek so he was bending slightly backwards. He let his claws slowly slide out within Derek's vision than placed them gently on his cheek and dragged them down to his neck, listening to Derek's breath catch.

"Are you ready, Derek?" Stiles whispered into Derek's ear.

Derek's eyes flashed red. "More than ready." He replied.


	18. Fire and Nature

The witch didn't suspect anything until the moment Stiles let go of Derek and Derek grabbed her and threw her far away from them both.

At the same moment the humans finally arrived. Alison immediately broke the mountain ash line and everyone rushed in to flank Stiles and Derek, ready for a fight.

The witch quickly got back to her feet, face full of rage. "How? How did you resist my compulsion? It should have been impossible!" She shrieked, hands balling into fists.

"I guess my will is stronger than yours." Stiles said slightly out of breath.

"No! Its impossible! I did everything right! You were supposed to kill him!" She screeched pulling at her hair roughly. Stiles could actually hear hairs ripping out of her scalp.

"I have known Stiles since kindergarten, and I can officially say Stiles never does anything he is supposed to do." Scott said in fondness. He had this small proud smile on his face.

Stiles let out a indignant snort. "Hey now, Scotty. I resemble that!" He joked with a grin in his best friends direction.

The witch screamed, the wind picked up - swirling around them and scattering the wolfsbane flowers around their feet. The blue - green flames behind them roared angrily, spitting sparks and flames at their backs.

Nature came alive around them. Roots burst from the ground, branches grew to 4X their normal size. It all went after the pack, pushing and pulling them away from Stiles and Derek.

Derek placed a hand on Stiles' forearm, pulling at him gently as he stepped in front of him. He didn't want the witch anywhere near Stiles again, and now that the circle was broken and his pack was with him, he could fight her off. He would protect his mate this time. He felt Stiles place a hand on his lower back firmly, letting him know he was there. It calmed Derek slightly.

The witch stalked toward them, everyone else was too busy fighting their own battles to notice or help them. Derek backed both of them up until they could feel the burning heat of the witches fire against the skin of their back. She pointed a shaking finger at Stiles.

"You...You will kill him. I want that power! Give it to me!" She growled.

Stiles scoffed. "I am not killing anyone! And honestly lady - I think you have plenty of power. You seem kind of...off center." Stiles gestured around them at the chaos the witch was creating.

"This is nothing." The woman laughed. "The power you two have, as mates and as individuals, is so far beyond this! You waste it! You don't deserve it!"

"What makes you think you deserve the power?" Stiles asked. The rage inside him was wearing away at him, he was exhausted from trying to fight it. The hand on Derek's lower back started shaking, so he removed it before Derek could notice. Derek shifted closer as soon as he was no longer touching him, and Stiles could see him tense further and glance back at him.

The witch was close now, too close for Stiles or Derek's comfort. "I take what I want." She hissed out before launching herself at Stiles.

Her blunt fingers sunk into Stiles' chest an inch deep before either of them could even react. And Stiles stared shocked, eyes wide. Everything froze, every pair of eyes turning to Stiles and the witch The pain started as a burn just around the fingers buried into his chest, but as the seconds ticked on the pain flared out and made him cry out.

"Stiles!" Scott shouted trying to pull the root from around his leg so he could get to his best friend and brother.

With a growl that literally shook the air around them, Derek grabbed the witch's wrist in one hand and her neck with the other, squeezing both tight. He heard bones snap in her wrist and she screamed. "You never should have touched Stiles!" Derek pulled her fingers from Stiles' chest and heaved her away from his mate, turning quickly and throwing the witch into the fire.

 

* * *

 

Stiles was standing in the shower in the loft, trying to scrub off the paint or whatever the witch used to draw all over his skin. The problem was, it wasn't coming off. It stained his skin and no matter how much he scrubbed it refused to come off.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. "Hello, naked here." Stiles snapped.

"Yes, I know. You have been showering for over an hour. The hot water ran out awhile ago, I've checked. Time to get out." Lydia's voice came into the door.

"I'll get out when I am done." Stiles replied with a huff. His skin was raw from scrubbing, but he couldn't stop yet.

"Now, Stiles." Lydia ordered before shutting the door again.

Stiles closed his eyes and sighed. Images flashed behind them and he immediately opened them again.

When Derek threw her into the fire the witch didn't even scream, but the fire sent out a pulse that threw both Stiles and Derek back half a dozen feet. Stiles had the image of the witches body burning seared into his brain. The smell of burning flesh still lingered in his nose. And he knew the moment she was dead, because the compulsion to attack Derek, the rage, disappeared instantly. It was just there and then it was gone.

The sudden absence of the feeling took Stiles' breath away and he had to force air back into his lungs, make his heavy chest expand. The nature that was attacking the pack retreated, all of the witches spells dying with her.

Stiles sighed and shut off the shower. Lydia was right. The water had been ice cold for a while now. He knew the pack was waiting in the living room, piled up on every cushion, pillow, and blanket in the loft and some from their own homes. No one was leaving tonight, it was a pack sleepover.

After toweling off he got dressed in a pair of Derek's sweatpants, waist tied tightly so they didn't fall off, and one of his sweatshirts. The sweatshirt was oversized as well, but it was the good kind of oversized.

Stiles wrapped his arms around himself and exited the bathroom to join the pack. They were watching Spongebob Squarepants on T.V. and munching on pizza. Boyd patted the space between him and Derek and Stiles happily sat in it, not hesitating as he curled up around Derek and settled in.

Derek took a deep breath of Stiles' scent and wrapped a arm around him securely.  He could still smell the anxiety rolling off his mate now that the adrenaline off the fight had worn off.  It's okay though, because Derek won't let anything happen to Stiles again.  He rubs his hand soothingly up and down Stiles' arm and kissed his damp hair.  "I got you, Stiles."  He whispered.  In response Stiles curled in closer to his side, hand playing with the hem of his t shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No worries it's not over yet. I plan on at least one more chapter.


	19. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of Sacrifices & Bonds. It took a while because I suck at endings, so I apologize in advance.

Derek startled awake when Stiles jerked beside him. He was whimpering quietly and his breathing was quick and short in panic. He was having another nightmare. Stiles has been spending most nights with Derek, and he has had a nightmare almost every one of those nights.

Derek slid closer to his mate and wrapped his arms securely around him. "Shh, babe, I've got you, don't worry." He soothed quietly until Stiles finally calmed down and opened his eyes. Slivers of moonlight lit up the unshed tears welled up in his eyes. Turning in his arms Stiles curled into his body and hid his face in Derek's chest. Derek waited patiently as Stiles' breathing and heart rate returned to normal.

"I'm sorry. I know I am being ridiculous." Stiles whispered into his chest. Derek could feel hot breath ghost across his skin.

"It's completely understandable. We went through a lot. Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. Stiles never talked about it. No matter how many times he asked or what he said. But he kept asking. Stiles would tell him eventually, when he was ready.

Stiles was silent and still for so long Derek was convinced tonight would be the same as every night, but Stiles cleared his throat softly. "It's so stupid, but I can't shake it." He started. The anger that witch made me feel was so strong. I wanted to hurt you - kill you. And when she Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doomed me I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist if she tried that spell again. I was never more terrified than in that moment."

Derek was careful to not let his body tense or freeze for even a second. He kept the fingers of one hand gently rubbing up and down Stiles' spine at a steady pace and let the information sink in. He remembered his own feelings just a couple short weeks ago.

"I knew right away that you were still you. As soon as you looked at me. You are too stubborn to let someone make you do something you don't want to do, I should know i've been trying to for years." Derek said eventually.

Stiles lightly punched Derek in the chest in retaliation. Derek chuckled quietly and placed a gentle kiss on Stiles' temple. "Do you still feel that rage the witch made you feel? Do you actually feel it, or do you just remember how it felt?" He asked getting serious again.

"I feel it in my dreams like it never went away. I'm afraid that when I wake up I'll find that the dream is actually reality and reality is the dream. Does that make sense?" Stiles whispers with a haunted look in his eyes.

"Strangely enough, it does. But we have been together for two weeks now and haven't spent a single night apart. You have never once hurt me, or even tried to hurt me." Derek soothes his mate.

Stiles thought about it for a minute. "You are right." He finally says. "And the dreams will go away eventually...hopefully."

"They will, in time." Derek promised. He tipped Stiles' chin up so he could capture his lips in a slow, passionate kiss filled with all the love he felt for the teen.

Stiles returned the kiss, deepening it after a few long seconds, craving more. He ran his hands over Derek's bare chest, fingers ghosting over the ridges and dips of skin and muscle. He memorized the way Derek's abs clenched under his fingers, how his skin shuddered. He marveled at the way his heat left behind goosebumps. And when he drug his nails down the planes of his back Derek couldn't hold back the loud moan. His hips twitched forward unconsciously and he gripped Stiles' hair tightly in his fingers.

Stiles broke away to start biting and licking at the sensitive skin behind Derek's ear and down the column of his throat. He sucked at his pulse point and Derek's hands snaked lower to cup over his ass and squeeze just hard enough to make Stiles' breath hitch.

"Derek." Stiles moaned against his lips as Derek snaked his fingers just under the waistband of his sleep pants.

Gasping Stiles scrambled at Derek's boxers, pulling them down as far as he could. He managed to free Derek's hard cock and quickly got his hand around him. Derek jerked forward with a grunt, sinking his teeth into Stiles' shoulder and digging his fingers deeper in between the younger mans cheeks.

From there clothes came off in a flurry, ending up in piles across the room. It was a mess of tongues and hands and lips touching and tasting anything and everything they can. Desperate to keep touching and tasting. Desperate to know and feel the other there.

Derek slotted their hips together so their leaking cocks rubbed together deliciously. Their combined sweat and precum joined together to make the friction pleasant and warm.

Derek licked a stripe up the column of Stiles' throat. "Oh god, Stiles! Fuck!" Derek hissed out as the hot pleasure built in his lower stomach. He reached between them and grabbed their cocks in one of his fists, squeezing just right.

It only took a couple of tugs before Stiles froze under Derek's hands and came so hard his head tilted back to reveal his long pale neck dotted with the moles Derek loved so much.

Derek came right behind Stiles, burying his face in the neck Stiles exposed. He felt his teeth elongate slightly and resisted the urge to bite, to claim the creamy skin against his lips. He stopped himself at sucking a short lasting mark right over his pulse point, all while they both painted their stomachs with their cum.

As they came back from post orgasm bliss, Stiles captured Derek's lips with his own, some sick part of him liking their combined smells soaking into their skins, even if it did feel sticky and disgusting.

"Who would have thought one spin out and a head injury would lead to all this." Stiles pulled away slightly to say. He stroked his fingertips gently along his mates jaw.

"Life is funny that way, i guess." Derek breathes quietly feeling a mix of guilt and gratefulness about all that happened.

Stiles could smell the emotions coming off Derek. "I wouldn't change a thing." He reassured Derek.

It was true. Stiles never wanted to become a werewolf, and never expected Derek to be his mate, but he couldn't say life wasn't good. Mild hiccup with a witch aside, being a werewolf saved his life after the accident, or rather becoming a werewolf via werewolf healing magic saved his life. Which meant that his dad didn't lose his son and wife. His dad wasn't alone in the world. Plus he loved Derek so much more than he thought possible, and he could actually be with him. Derek was his and he was Derek's. It was a amazing feeling. More amazing than the fullness and warmth having and being a part of a pack felt like. Being a part of the pack as a human felt good, but it felt like more as a werewolf. It was hard to explain.

Derek smiled at Stiles and kissed his forehead. "We should get cleaned up before our cum dries to much and we get glued together. Shower?" Derek asked not shifting a muscle to move away.

"Only if you will join me." Stiles replied with a mischievous smirk. Derek laughed.

Yeah, life was different now, but it was good. So good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been thinking about a sequel or even a couple short drabbles. We will see.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you want more. I would hate to keep posting if there is no interest, ya know what I mean?
> 
> I have very little knowledge of head injuries and comas. I did a mild google search for this fic. I'm sorry if anything is horribly, glaringly, wrong.
> 
> Based off a tumblr post made by (I think) captain-snark. I don't know if anyone else has written a fic based off the post yet, but I was struck with a need to write it.


End file.
